


His Scars | Minsung

by HONEYYCHAN



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: A little angst, Fluff and Crack, Gangs, M/M, My First Fanfic, Overall Happy, Please Don't Kill Me, Rape/Non-con Elements, Swearing, Violence, but they’ll come around eventually, got7 shows up like once, jisung and his friends are dense, jisung is stubborn, kinda cliche, mafia, no self harm at all, oneus members too, pls read the warnings, txt members show up a couple times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2020-07-29 08:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 45
Words: 149,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20078857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HONEYYCHAN/pseuds/HONEYYCHAN
Summary: The scars around Minho's wrist? They're just from fighting. Or at least that's what everyone assumes. Jisung, on the other hand, has a feeling there's a darker backstory to it than what everyone says and he's determined to find out.Or Minho is known to be the cold hearted gang member but that all changes when he has to sit next to Jisung in class





	1. z e r o .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- WARNING: this book will contain violence, abuse, murder, kidnapping, sexual assault, and mentions of rape and suicide. Most of these won’t apply until the middle/end of the book but pls read at your own risk!
> 
> \- The description of the book makes it seem like the scars on Minho's wrists have something to do with self harm but it does not. There is no mention of self harm anywhere else in this book
> 
> This is my first ff so it's definitely going to be cliche but pls be nice (^-^) and I'm sorry in advance for any errors, also if there's any similarities from this book to another ff then it's just a coincidence I promise I didn't copy anyone!! I hope you enjoy!

_Once he got out from his hiding spot, he fell to his knees and broke down, crying his heart out._

_"No." He whispered in disbelief._

_He grabbed her hand and felt the cold touch from her skin._

_"NO, NO!" He screamed at the top of his lungs while his eyes were pouring with tears and snot coming down from his nose._

_That's all he could scream._

_That two letter word._

_His mind couldn't comprehend what was going on._

_He looked at what layed in front of him._

_His parents, helplessly sprawled on the floor, soaking in their own blood._

_He couldn't believe it._

_It had to be a dream._

_No._

_It was a nightmare._

_How did things turn so gruesome? Just an hour ago, he was as happy as he could be. All he felt was love and happiness. He never would've imagined that in the next hour, he would witness something that would cause his life to come crushing down on him and haunt him forever._

_There was no way that this was real life._

_He wanted death._

_He wished that he would've died instead of them._

_Or to at least die with them._

_How was he supposed to go on with his life?_

_Everything turned to a blur once he heard the sirens of the police._

_He felt the vibration of the door slamming open and the footsteps of the police rushing in._

_He felt arms pull him back away from his parents._

_He saw a figure kneel in from of him, blocking his view._

_He felt arms grasp his shoulders and shake him._

_He heard voices yelling out to him but his mind couldn't make it into words._

_He couldn't move._

_His mind was blank and he couldn't think correctly._

_He couldn't speak even if he tried._

_His focus was just on his deceased parents._

_But for some reason, he clearly heard what the paramedics said to the police as it ringed through his mind._

_"They're both dead."_

_The next thing he knew, they were zipping up the black body bag that contained his parents' body and that's when he finally came to terms with the fact that this wasn't a traumatizing dream,_

_It was the cruel reality of the world and the life he's living._

_Why him?_

_What did he do to deserve this?_

_Why would anyone want to do that to him and his family?_

_Why didn't they just kill him too?_

_Why would they let him live knowing that his parents were murdered in front of his eyes?_

_This was the work of a devil._

_All these thoughts flew through his mind while he was being driven to the police station._

_That's when he decided that he was going to live in this world for one reason only._

_To get revenge on the person who killed his parents._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't usually format my chapters like this. it's just for the prologue :)


	2. z e r o .

Jisung's bedroom door swung open, "Jisung get your ass up! You're gonna be late for your first day of school!" Jisung's older brother, Younghyun aka Brian yelled.

"Ugh, five more minutes." Jisung managed to groan, not moving from his position.

"I'm giving you 3 seconds." The annoying voice said again.

Jisung just groaned back in response, still not moving a muscle.

"One... Two... Three!"

Jisung was unfazed, almost falling back asleep.

"Alright. You asked for it."

The younger male felt something crack against his head and a sticky substance roll down his face afterwards. He immediately got up from his comfortable position and wiped his eyes from the gooey substance. Jisung looked at his hands and saw a yellow residue. The latter glared at his older brother who was standing right beside his bed with the egg carton in his hands. Brian gave Jisung a smug look.

"What the hell? Is this an egg?" Jisung said through his clenched teeth as the shell fell off his head and landed on his comforter.

"I told you to get up." Was all Brian said shrugging.

In one swift motion Jisung grabbed the egg carton opening it. He reached for an egg to throw at his brother, but soon realized there were no eggs left in the carton.

Brian started laughing at his younger brother. "Ha bitch! There's no eggs left for you to throw at me."

Instead, Jisung threw the egg carton at his brother also reaching for the egg shell that was on his comforter and throwing it at the older male who was running out of his room.

"You wasted the last egg on my face!? I could've eaten that for breakfast!" He yelled so his brother could hear him.

"You don't even eat breakfast!" Brian yelled back.

Jisung sighed as he gets up from his bed, walking to his bathroom. The latter looked in the mirror and scared himself. Jisung could barely open his eyes but from what he could see how horrid he looked. His hair was sticking out in every way, almost like a sea urchin, expect for the patch of hair that the egg cracked on. There was egg dripping down his puffy face and there were noticeable bags under his eyes.

Not wanting to see himself any longer, Jisung took a shower to wash the egg off of him. He brushed his teeth and washed his face. After the male was done in the bathroom he moved back to his room to put on his school uniform. He fixed his hair and went downstairs. Jisung's older brother and sister was sitting at the table eating oatmeal.

"Hey Jihyo noona." Jisung smiled brightly.

The female looked up and saw her younger brother walking towards her. "Hey Jisungie." Jihyo smiled as he sat down next to her. "We ran out of eggs but I made oatmeal. you want some?" The mention of the eggs made Brian snort as Jisung snapped his neck to him and glared.

"No it's ok. I need to go or else I'm gonna be late for school. Bye noona!" Jisung said as he got up and slung his backpack over his shoulder, quickly walking to the door. He knew what was coming next and he just wanted to leave before his sister spoke, but of course he was too slow.

"Jisung, breakfast is important to eat. At least take a granola bar." Jihyo demanded.

Jisung turned around and whined. "Noona, I never eat breakfast and you know that."

"Yeah and I don't understand why." Jihyo threw him a granola bar.

"Beacause I'm not hungry." Jisung mumbled to himself as he caught the bar and sighed. "Bye noona." He said louder.

"Ya! Do I not get a goodbye?" Brian asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh sorry, what'd you say? I couldn't hear you?" Jisung replied as he quickly walked out the door, closing it before his brother could say anything.

Jisung walked down his driveway and opened his gate. He continued onto the sidewalk and started heading to school when he heard someone yell behind him "Ya Jisung!"

The mentioned boy quickly turned around and smiled after he saw who it was. "Felix! You ready for the first day of school?" He asked as he waited for his Australian friend to catch up to him.

"No, it's Friday. Who the hell has their first day of school on a Friday? Apparently our school district. District 9 sucks. Why can't we be in District 7 or something. They don't started school until Monday. I could be doing better things than going to school." He rambled bitterly when he caught up to Jisung.

Jisung raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh yeah? You have no life Felix, what could you possibly be doing that's better than school?"

"I just breathed and you're slandering me already. You don't have a life either." Felix snapped back. "And I could be sleeping."

"You slept the entire summer. I think you've slept enough!" Jisung replied. "Plus, school isn't that bad."

Felix scoffed, "Says you, Mr. I'm the smartest student in school."

Jisung rolled his eyes, "You can't even talk. You're the third smartest in our school, right below Seungmin."

"Ugh, don't remind me. Seungmin acts like he's much more smarter than me when he barely even beat me." He snarled. "My goal this year is to beat his and your ass to get #1." He said before running the rest of the way to school.

"IN YOUR DREAMS YONGBOK!" Jisung yelled to make sure Felix heard, which he did as he gives Jisung the finger while he ran through the doors of the high school. _'Why am I friends with him?' _Jisung thinks to himself while he entered the school.

Jisung saw Felix walking with Seungmin to their classroom, so he ran up to them and they walk into class together.

When the three boys walked in, Jisung noticed there weren't many people in class yet. But the few people that were there, were sitting with their own little group of friends.

Seating was assigned and funny enough, Seungmin sat behind Jisung and Felix sat on the left side of Jisung. After sitting in their assigned seats, Jisung and Felix turned around to face Seungmin so they could talk.

"Do you think they'll be in our class?" Seungmin asked a confused Jisung and Felix.

"Whom?" Felix questioned.

"You know exactly who I'm talking about." Seungmin gave them the look.

Finally understanding who Seungmin was talking about, Jisung replied "I mean, maybe one of them? Definitely not all three of them. That'll never happen."

"Oh god. I hope it's not all three of them. That would be hell. I would rather sell my leg." Felix said.

Just then their teacher walked through the door and announced loudly "Hello class I'll be your teacher for the year. Please call me Mr. Park. We are going to start the day off with history." (lmao guess who the teacher is.)

Felix and Jisung turn around as he started the lesson. Jisung being the smart student he is, he started taking notes right away.

A few minutes into class everyone heard the classroom door open. Then the whispers started coming. Jisung looked up from his notebook to see who arrived late and saw three boys standing at the front of the classroom. His breathing hitched and his eyes opened wide. Now he understood why everyone was whispering.

Jisung looked over to Felix who had the same facial expression as Jisung. "No way." Felix whispered.

Jisung and Felix looked behind them at Seungmin and made eye contact. Seungmin quietly whispered to the two "What the actual fuck. This can _not_ be real."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry if this chapter is boring. it'll get more interesting soon !
> 
> the next chapter:  
\- they sit where???
> 
> some of my next chapter clues might be dramatic or it will throw you off. just a heads up


	3. t w o .

_Jisung and Felix looked behind them at Seungmin and made eye contact. Seungmin quietly whispered to the two "What the actual fuck. This can not be real."_

Lee Minho, Seo Changbin and Hwang Hyunjin were standing in front of the classroom. The three boys were easily the most popular boys at school along with their two other friends, Bang Chan and Kim Woojin. The five boys have the whole school wrapped around their fingers. They're in the gang called Stray Kids and Chan is the leader of it. The gang is very well known in Seoul because of their reputation of being the strongest and most dangerous gang in Korea. Stray kids consists of a good amount of people but the five boys were the main people in the gang.

If you ask anyone at this school, they would all agree that those five boys were the most attractive people at the school. Stray Kids are very intimidating and everyone knows not to mess with them. The bruises on their hands will tell you not to mess with them. They won't hesitate to throw a punch if you test them, especially Lee Minho.

"Nice of you to finally join us Minho, Changbin, Hyunjin." Mr. Park said sternly.

"Sorry Mr. Park." Changbin said, not meaning one word as Minho rolled his eyes and Hyunjin flashed an obvious fake smile at the teacher.

The teacher wasn't amused. "Just take your seats before I give you detention. Minho you sit next to Jisung. Hyunjin and Changbin sit next to Seungmin. Hyunjin behind Minho and Changbin behind Felix."

Jisung, Felix and Seungmin couldn't believe what was coming out of their teacher's mouth. The moment they heard their names called out, all three of them opened their eyes as wide as they could go and their mouths dropped to the floor. _There was no way that we have to sit next to the three gang members?_ Jisung thought to himself.

"Jisung, Seungmin and Felix, please raise your hand." Mr. Park continued.

His voice snapped the three back to reality. Quickly they closed their mouths and slowly raised their hands. They tried to avoid any eye contact with anyone in the room, but it was hard since everyone's eyes were fixated on the three boys that we're sitting near the back of the room.

Usually Jisung is used to everyone staring at him, since he raises his hand quite often to answer questions asked by teachers, but for obvious reasons, he was uncomfortable by the amount of eyes on him now.

Minho's eyes scanned the room until he found Jisung sitting on the right, near the back window. He walked towards him and Jisung swore he almost peed his pants.

Slowly following behind Minho, Hyunjin and Changbin moved their legs towards the back of the room too.

Minho slumped onto the chair on the right side of Jisung as Changbin sat behind Felix and Hyunjin sitting behind Minho.

The teacher continued with the history lesson and Jisung almost fell asleep during it. He's not too fond of history class, because who cares about wars and stuff. But nevertheless, he still manages to get on top during exams.

After their third subject it was lunch time. Jisung, Seungmin and Felix sat at a table together with another one of their friends, Jeongin, who was a year younger.

They sat in awkward silence for a minute before Felix broke it, talking about the elephant in the room.

"So... Minho, Changbin, and Hyunjin are in our class for the rest of the year. This should be interesting." Felix said as he takes a bite out of his sandwich.

After hearing this, Jeongin almost choked on his food. "You have all three in your classroom!?"

"Yep." Seungmin said as he popped the p. "What are the odds right?"

Jisung took a bite of his cheesecake "I mean, it can't be that bad right? We can just act like they're not there." Jisung said the last part quietly, trying to convince himself too.

"I agree with Jisung. We should just ignore them." Seungmin agreed.

Felix and Jeongin stared at Jisung and Seungmin "Oh come on! The whole school basically praises them." Felix said.

"They get into fights all the time because half the guys at this school are dumbasses and they really don't understand how much power Stray Kids hold." Jeongin added on.

Jisung snorted, knowing that what they're saying was 100% true.

"I _know_ there is going to be at least one fight between Minho and some dumbass dude." Felix continued. "And I'm going to be there, laughing at the dumbass."

Jisung sighed, "Yeah true. Lucky us, we're the ones who have to sit next to them for the whole year." He said sarcastically.

Jeongin choked on his water and started coughing. "You sit next to them? All three??"

"Yeah basically." Felix sighed as he took a bite out of his sandwich. "It sucks. I feel like I'm gonna shit myself whenever I look at any of them." He said with his mouth full.

Jisung scoffed as Seungmin glared at Felix. "Felix shut the fuck up." Jisung and Seungmin say at the same time, totally catching Felix off guard.

Jisung continued "You don't even sit next to any of them you ass. Why are you complaining? Don't give us any of that 'Oh I'm gonna shit myself' bullshit." Felix stopped chewing his food, totally taken aback from the attack.

"Jisung you shut the fuck up too." Seungmin rolled his eyes. "At least you're only sitting next to one of them. I'm sandwiched in between two of them. You have Felix on the other side of you, but when I look at my other side I have another fucking gang member to look at. You guys should be thankful, you ungrateful hoes."

Jisung gave a confused look to Seungmin, "Why do you even care? You're the only person in this world that's not scared of Stray Kids?"

"Yeah true but they're still annoying and they get on my nerves. Be happy you only sit next to one."

Jisung looked appalled, "You know what? Yeah, you're right. I do only sit next to one of them while you sit next to two. But the one I sit next to is _Lee Minho_! He's the scariest person in the gang! Changbin and Hyunjin combined doesn't even equal the same amount of fear that Minho radiates off. Minho is the strongest fucking member in Stray Kids and will not hesitate to punch your face if you accidentally bump into him. I'm literally scared to move because I know my stupid ass will unintentionally kick his foot. I don't think I've ever sat so still in my life." He said making Seungmin snorted.

"I don't understand how everyone at this school is in love with Minho, or any of the gang members. Minho is the scariest fucking living organism in this galaxy. How are people able to be obsessed with people who kill on the daily? That makes no sense. How can people be in love with something they're scared of?" Felix wondered out loud.

"It's because they're 'delinquents'. They give off that 'bad boy' vibe that everybody loves. Also doesn't help that everyone in Stray Kids is 'good looking'. They make everyone go swoon." Seungmin explained disgusted.

"It must suck to have to sit next to all three of them. Well that's too bad." Jeongin shrugged. "I wonder how the fear must feel like. None of them are in my grade though, so guess I'll never know. I'll just ask you guys instead. Tell me the amount of pain you feel when they punch you." Jeongin teased the three.

Felix and Seungmin slapped Jeongin's arm, "Keep on teasing and I'll tell a special someone that you like him." Seungmin threatened.

Jeongin's eyes went wide. He opened his mouth to beg for forgiveness but Jisung started talking,

"You're literally in love with the leader of Stray Kids' younger brother. If you want to date Yedam then that means you'll have to meet and get the approval from Bang Chan and basically the rest of the gang too, so I would shut up with all the teasing if I were you." Jisung snapped making Jeongin's cheeks flush red.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about your little crush on Bang Yedam." Felix laughed, "It's been a year, how's that going? Has he acknowledged you yet? Or do you still drool over him from afar?" Felix continued to tease.

Jeongin could feel his face heat up more so he quickly changed the subject before his friends could tease him further.

"I-I mean I don't think it'll be that bad to sit next to them. As long as you guys don't bother them then you'll be good. Who knows maybe you guys will become friends with them."

"You probably only want us to become friends with them because if we get close with them, then you'll also get close with them too. That way Yedam could finally acknowledge who you are and you can shoot your shot with him." Felix commented immediately, "Wow Jeongin, I love how your mind works."

Jeongin groaned and threw a piece of lettuce at Felix, "That was not even close to what I meant, you rat. How'd you even think of that so quickly?"

"My mind just works in amazing ways." Felix winked.

"What're you talking about? Your mind doesn't even work." Jeongin shot him down.

Jisung and Seungmin start snickering at what Jeongin had said because they both knew how true that statement was. Felix threw back the piece of lettuce that Jeongin threw at him earlier.

"What I meant was maybe becoming friends with them would be fun. They seem like interesting people. You're gonna sit next to them for the rest of the year so might as well try to talk to them and get close with them." Jeongin shrugged.

Jisung looked around the cafeteria, searching where the five boys sat. They were sitting a few tables away from where Jisung and his friends were sitting. Chan was sitting across from Minho. Woojin was sitting in between Chan and Changbin, resting his head on Chan's shoulder. Hyunjin was sitting in between Minho and Yedam.

They seemed like they were in a serious conversation. Jisung saw Changbin reach over and try to grab a fry from Hyunjin's tray but before he could, Hyunjin slapped his hand away and they all start laughing as Changbin rolled his eyes.

"Pfft yeah right. I don't think that'll be possible. They seem to be fine being friend with only each other. Let's also not forget that they're in a gang. Plus I don't want to risk getting punched by Minho for disturbing him. Being friends with you three left me with two brain cells, I can't imagine 5 more." Jisung said as he returned his focus back at the three boys around him.

Seungmin scoffed "That's funny, coming from you."

Jisung scratched his head "Hm? Oh, I'm sorry, I can't hear you over my test scores that placed #1 in the school."

Felix smirked at Seungmin "He got you there, dumbass."

"Oh that's funny, what place did you get Felix? Hm? Oh and what place did I get? Mhm yeah exactly so shut up." Seungmin snapped back.

Jisung and Jeongin start laughing at Felix's priceless reaction. They raise their hands towards Seungmin, giving him a high five.

"I came here to have fun and you're just slandering me." Felix felt betrayed.

They continued to talk throughout lunch until the bell rang. Jisung, Felix and Seungmin walked back to their class as Jeongin walked back to his class.

The next subject was science, which was Jisung's favorite subject because he liked the experiments they do in science. Jisung was having a good day but then it was time for the last subject of the day, math, which coincidentally is the only subject where you switch teachers. Once he saw who the teacher was, he knew that math was definitely not going to be fun. That was when things started to go a little bit downhill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case if some of you guys are confused, chan and woojin are a year above jisung and the other five. jeongin and yedam are a year younger. 
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- pst pst  
\- eraser  
\- he done fucked up


	4. t h r e e .

_Once Jisung saw who the teacher was, he knew that math was definitely not gonna be fun. That was when things started to go a little bit downhill._

It was time for math. Jisung usually liked math, since he liked solving things and the boy knew a lot in the subject, but once he saw the teacher he knew it wasn't going to be his favorite class.

Mr. Kim

Mr. Kim is a really strict teacher. He also wasn't very good at teaching. He got the answers wrong half the time and got mad at students who tried to correct him. Jisung was one of those students. Yes, Jisung's had Mr. Kim before since he taught two different kinds of math.

"Hello class, I'll be your math teacher for the year. Please call me Mr. Kim." He said unenthusiastically. The teacher's eyes scanned the room to get a look at who his students are. Once his eyes landed on Jisung he let out the biggest sigh as Jisung smiled back at him. The teacher ignored Jisung's mocking smile and started to talk about the new lesson.

Jisung turned to his left to Felix and giggled as he said "This'll be a fun year." Felix jokingly rolled his eyes.

—

So far, Jisung thought math class was going well. He only had to correct the teacher twice and every time he did, Mr. Kim would send a quick glare at him. There was 10 minutes left in class and that's when everything started going downhill.

Jisung was solving equations on a paper that was due at the end of class. On one of the problems he messed up and totally got the answer wrong. He looked at the pencil he was holding and saw that it didn't have an eraser. He checked his pencil pouch and couldn't find an eraser. He couldn't ask Felix or Seungmin for an eraser since they always wrote in pen. The people in front of him were writing in pen too.

_Jesus Christ, does everyone in this classroom write with pen? _Jisung thought. The latter looked around and noticed that Minho had an eraser on his desk. _You've got to be kidding. Why is he the only person around me with a goddamn eraser. I don't wanna ask, but this paper is due at the end of class._ Jisung wanted to die.

After contemplating for a minute, Jisung turned to his right, looking at Minho who was twirling a pencil in his hand and looking down at his phone which was below the desk so the teacher wouldn't see, "D-do you have an eraser I can borrow?" Jisung stuttered quietly.

Minho didn't look up. He didn't hear Jisung. He was too invested in whatever he was doing on his phone.

Jisung internally screamed. "Hey Minho." He attempted again.

The mentioned male looked up from his phone at Jisung. He stopped twirling the pencil in his hand and Jisung can tell that Minho was beyond annoyed that someone was talking to him. He gave Jisung a glare. The longer Minho stared at Jisung without saying anything, the more Jisung wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

"What do you wan-." Minho was saying harshly before he got cut off by the teacher.

"Minho, there will be no talking while it's silent work time. That's an after school detention for you!" Mr. Kim said sternly.

Minho scoffed and rolled his eyes.

_Fuck fuck fuck. He really got a detention because of my dumbass. Jesus fucking Christ he's gonna hate me now._ Jisung mentally slapped himself.

"Mr. Kim don't give him detention, it's not his fault. I was the one who was talking to him firs- " Jisung began before he could stop himself.

"You want to talk during silent work time too? That's also a detention for you Han Jisung!" Mr. Kim glared and then went back to typing on his computer.

Jisung was taken aback. He sat there kicking himself. _Why did I even say anything? What was the point of me talking? Why do I do this to myself. I hate myself. I didn't even get the fucking eraser._

Jisung felt Felix tap on his left shoulder. He turned to his left and saw Felix give him a look that said _‘What the fuck just happened? Why did you do that_.’ Jisung gave him a shrug as to say _'Don't even ask. I don't know why myself' _and then Jisung looked back at his paper before the teacher could yell at him and give him another detention.

Once math was over Jisung started to gather all his school material. Seungmin and Felix waited for Jisung to finish up and then they walked out of the classroom and headed for their lockers.

"Did you actually just get a detention for sticking up for Minho?" Seungmin asked Jisung in complete disbelief.

"Yep." Jisung replied back wanting to drop the subject but of course Felix and Seungmin kept talking about it.

"Wow." Felix said surprised as they arrived at their lockers.

"Wow what?" Jeongin suddenly appeared next to them.

"Jisung just got detention for sticking up for Minho. The teacher's pet, the top student just got a detention, the class president! Who knew that was possible?" Felix laughed as Jisung pushed him and rolled his eyes.

Jeongin's eyes widened as he looked at Jisung. "Ya Jisung hyung why would you do that?" He asked.

"I don't know! Before I knew it, my mouth was moving and I was exposing myself to the teacher." Jisung shoved a book in his backpack in frustration.

"You're about to be in a room alone with Minho for an hour. Everyone would be dying to be in your position." Felix continued to tease.

"Ok first, there's going to be a teacher there watching us. And second, I'd love if someone could take my spot."

"Come on, it won't be that bad. Just keep your distance away from him." Seungmin tried to cheer his friend up.

"This is my first time in detention! Brian hyung and Jihyo noona are gonna kick my ass and on top of that, I don't know if you guys forgot but Minho definitely isn't the type of person who's very friendly. He's part of a gang! He's very intimidating and if I say something wrong, he's not going to hesitate to punch my face." Jisung took a second to breath before continuing "I don't know why I had to open my mouth. Especially to the one teacher that absolutely hates me and will take any chance that is open to him to get me in trouble." Jisung finished as he shoved his binder in his backpack.

Seungmin and Jeongin didn't know what to say. They all knew what Jisung said was correct. Seungmin just continued to pack up.

"Well- " Felix tried to talk before being cut off.

"Do me a favor and whenever I raise my hand in Mr. Kim's class, please just grab my hand and pull it down. Make sure I-" Jisung kept on rambling before he felt a stinging sensation on his arm.

"Ow!" He turned to his left to look at the person who just slapped his arm. Felix continued to pack as if he did nothing.

"What was that for you piece of ass?" Jisung snapped. Seungmin and Jeongin laughed at his question.

"You need to chill before I slap you again" Felix threatened. Jisung rolled his eyes and slung his backpack in his shoulders.

"If you hit me hard enough on the head, I could go to the nurses office and miss detention with Minho." Jisung mumbled.

Felix ignored his comment, "As long as you don't talk as much as you did right now while you're in detention, then you should be fine."

Jisung rolled his eyes and sarcastically said "Wow thanks. That was the best advice I've ever gotten." He closed his locker.

"Hyung, you'll be fine! Just don't say anything mean and don't get in Minho's way." Jeongin said to Jisung, giving him a reassuring smile.

This made Jisung feel a little bit better. Seeing Jeongin's bright smile always made him feel better.

"Thanks Innie." Jisung ruffled Jeongin hair.

They started walking down the hallway to room 4419. Once they arrived Seungmin said "Don't worry, it'll be fine. Good luck!" Jisung smiled and then the three walked away leaving their friend in front of the door to detention.

He stood there for a few seconds before letting out a huge sigh and continuing into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> lmao guess who the math teacher is :) 
> 
> this is a short chapter but i'm planning on posting the next chapter later today or tomorrow :)
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- scars  
\- how clumsy can he get ???


	5. f o u r .

_Jisung smiled and then the three walked away leaving Jisung in front of the door to detention._

_He stood there for a few seconds before letting out a huge sigh and continuing into the room._

Jisung first noticed the gang member sitting at the back of the room on his phone with his feet on the desk. He was leaning back in his chair.

Jisung was surprised that Minho actually showed up to detention. Minho‘s gotten many detentions in his middle school and high school life. Out of those hundreds of detentions, he might've showed up to maybe fifteen of them. So why did he decide to show up to this one. Especially with the dude who got him into detention.

Minho looked up from his phone and saw Jisung standing at the door, he looked at Jisung for a good three seconds before he went back to scrolling through his phone. The short stare gave Jisung a weird feeling, which he didn't like.

Jisung quickly took a seat at the front of the classroom as far away from Minho as he could. He opened his backpack and took out his homework and started working on it waiting for the teacher to enter the classroom. As if on que the teacher came in and stood at the front of the classroom.

"Welcome to detention kids. Take out your homework and work on it or you can read or study for the next hour if you'd like." The teacher said as he sat at his desk. Right when the teacher sat down he got a call. The latter reached for the telephone and held it up to his ear. "Ok" was all he said before he hung up.

"Ok kids, something came up and I have to leave but that doesn't mean you're off the hook. You guys have to wash and clean the desks. Make sure you get all the gum from the under the desk too. I want to see this classroom spotless when I come in Monday morning. You can leave once you are done. Jisung I'm sure you know where the buckets and wash cloths are so yeah, have fun." He said as he left the room.

_Have fun my ass._ Jisung thought to himself. He got up from his desk and walked out of the room. Jisung continued to walk towards the janitor's closet which was two doors down the left. He opened the door and quickly grabbed rags, a bucket, scraper things, and a mop. He dragged them back into the room. Minho had not moved since Jisung left the room.

_I have to clean the desks with a gang member. Just the two of us in this room. Jesus Christ why me? Why him? He scares the living shit out of me. He's probably not even gonna clean up and I'm gonna be left to do it all on my own._ Jisung rolled his eyes as he set the equipment down on the floor.

"Why are you rolling eyes?" Minho snapped coldly as he went up to the front to grab a rag.

Jisung opened his eyes wide _Shit shit shit. How'd he see that?_, "Uh, um n-no reason.." Jisung mentally punched himself in the face for stuttering. He could feel his cheeks get red from the embarrassment so he quickly grabbed a rag, dumping it in the soapy water from the bucket and turned around to clean one of the desks to hide his face from Minho.

Minho scoffed and walked over to bucket with soapy water. Jisung was surprised at the fact that Minho was actually going to clean the desks. The guy who is probably one of the reasons why there's gum under the desks. The guy who's in the most dangerous, strongest, and richest gang. The guy who doesn't give a shit about anything. The guy who probably has never even touched a cleaning supply in his life let alone has ever cleaned anything except for blood, is actually going to clean the desks.

Jisung slowly watched Minho as he rolled up his sleeves so they wouldn't get wet while he dunked the rag in the bucket. The older pulled the rag out of the water and slowly rings out the access water from the rag, watching as the water drips back into the soapy water filled bucket.

Minho's wrists caught Jisung's eye. The latter noticed something around his wrists. Jisung didn't really know what he was looking at and before he could get a better look, Minho turned around.

Jisung quickly averted his eyes back to his desk and continued to clean, hoping that Minho didn't catch him staring. The gang member walked towards the desks and stopped at the one right next to the desk Jisung was cleaning.

_There are 30 desks in this room and he had to pick the one next to the one I'm cleaning._ Jisung thought as his heartbeat started to quicken from his nerves.

No one said anything the whole time. They cleaned the desks in silent. Jisung tried to glance a few times at Minho to get a glimpse of his wrists but Minho's sleeves had fallen back down, covering it.

—

An hour later, Minho was cleaning the last desk which was located at the front of the room and Jisung decided to mop the floor.

"Why'd you do it?" Minho asked out of nowhere, not taking his eyes off the desk he was cleaning.

The sudden question caught Jisung off guard. _He isn't talking to me right?_ "Do what?" He asked genuinely confused. Jisung started to mop the floor at a slower pace, nervous of the older boys next response.

"Try to get me out of detention. I mean obviously you knew you were going to get a detention so why would you even care?" Minho asked coldly while he leaned on the desk, watching Jisung drag the mop across the floor. He sounded almost mad at Jisung for doing it.

Jisung had finished mopping and stood still as he thought about his answer carefully, not wanting to say the wrong thing. "It was just the reasonable thing to do since I'm the reason that you got a detention in the first place and it didn't seem fair. It was my fault and not yours. Sorry by the way, for getting you into detention." Jisung said the last part quietly.

Minho stayed silent. Jisung walked up to the front of the room and set the mop in the cart. As Jisung was turning around, his shoe slipped on the wet floor and he started falling. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. Jisung quickly closed his eyes shut, preparing himself for the impact of his back against the floor.

But he never felt the impact he was preparing for.

Instead he felt an arm wrap around his waist firmly, pulling him in the opposite direction of where the floor was. Feeling this sudden change of direction and the new pressure around his waist, Jisung opened his eyes and was met by Minho's eyes.

Minho pulled Jisung close to him. Jisung gasped, mesmerized by Minho's eyes, he couldn't look away. They looked at each other in the eye for what seemed like forever but could easily have been just five seconds. Finally snapping back into reality, Jisung realized how close his face was to Minho's, and his eyes went wide. The latter could feel his face and ears burning up as he broke the eye contact. He was about to push Minho away from him but before he could do that, Minho spoke up and asked,

"Why are your ears so red?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> hey guyssss i hope you enjoyed this chapter !!! i’m sorry, this chapter is kind of short.
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- he's pushing the limits  
\- jisung thought he was home alone


	6. f i v e .

_Jisung was about to push Minho off of him but before he could do that, Minho spoke up and asked,_

_"Why are your ears so red?"_

Jisung mentally slapped himself. _How more embarrassing can my life get?_ He thought to himself as he quickly stood up on his own. Minho let go of him and Jisung stepped a couple steps away from Minho to keep his distance from the older.

"It's because it's really hot in here." Jisung said quickly as he fanned himself, trying to cover up his horrible lie.

"It's not even hot in here. The ac is on." Minho rolled his eyes "You're not fooling anyone but ok."

"You don't know anything about me. So what if the ac is on? I'm still hot and sweaty from mopping and scrubbing the desks." Jisung snapped back, regretting it almost immediately as he remembered who he was talking to.

After hearing this, Minho glared daggers at Jisung. The latter opened his mouth to apologize for snapping but before he could say anything, Minho started to step closer to Jisung.

Noticing the taller walking closer to him, Jisung stepped backwards to keep his distance. Sadly before he could maintain a reasonable distance from Minho, Jisung's hip hit against a desk, stopping him from going back any further. Minho continued to walk closer to Jisung, stopping when he was right in front of him.

Jisung could feel his heart drop to his ass. He knew that Minho was going to punch him or slap him or grab him by the collar and thrown him to the ground. He's seen Minho do it to other guys all the time. That's what he's known for. Jisung never thought he was gonna be one of them. He closed his eyes not wanting to see what Minho was going to do next. Jisung waited for Minho's fist to collide with his cheek but instead Jisung heard Minho's voice in his right ear whispering,

"I'm going to let this one pass. Next time don't forget who you're talking to, Han Jisung."

Jisung could feel Minho's breath against his neck. It sent shivers down Jisung's spine as the hair on his body stuck up. Minho straightened his back and stepped away from Jisung, giving a cold glare. A glare that made the other male shake in fear. With that, the older boy grabbed his stuff and walked out of the classroom.

Jisung was left there, stunned, with his eyes wide open. His heart was pounding against his chest. He couldn't wrap his head around what had just happened. Jisung felt his cheeks get hotter the more he thought about how close Minho was to him.

_How does Minho know my name? Why didn't Minho just punch me right there? He usually never hesitates. I mean, I'm not complaining but why? Why am I feeling like this? Why does Minho have this effect on me? Did Minho really just leave me to clean up alone?_ All these thoughts we're flying through Jisungs mind as he started to put the equipment away.

-

After cleaning up and walking home from school, Jisung walked up his driveway and opened his front door.

He looked around and saw that no one was home yet. He took off his shoes and ran upstairs into his room. Once he entered through his bedroom door he flopped on his bed.

Jisung felt his phone vibrate in his hands, scaring him a bit. He sat up and looked at his phone notifications and saw that he got a text from Felix in the group chat.

**yongyongbokie**  
jisung are you done with   
detention yet?  
tell us what happened

**jisung**  
yeah i just got home.

**seungmean**  
what happened???

**jisung**  
not much...

**seungmean**  
i can smell the lie   
from here. tell us what   
happened now

**jisung**  
or what bitch. you're   
not gonna do anything

**yongyongbokie**  
ooo he's getting bold now

**the child**  
hyung you KNOW seungmin hyung  
is gonna do something. please   
don't test him

**jisung**  
oh do you hear that?  
it's the sound of me   
testing him

**seungmean**  
alright bitch  
sleep with one eye  
open tonight

**jisung**  
oooo i'm so scared

**yongyongbokie**  
good luck dumbass

**the child**  
you're such an idiot

Jisung looked at the text messages and scoffed to himself. He knew Seungmin was gonna do something to him but at this point in his life, he didn’t even care anymore. He had better things to worry about, like his encounter with Minho.

_How am I going to survive sitting next to Minho for the rest of the year. After what just happened, Minho definitely hates my guts. I mean who wouldn't? I'm was the one who got Minho into detention in the first place and to make it all better, I snapped at him too._

Jisung's thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps downstairs. He got up from his bed and looked outside his window. His parents are on a business trip, like always, so there was no chance of it being them. His brother or sister's car weren't in the driveway meaning that none of them were home.

Jisung started to shit bricks.

The latter grabbed the first thing he saw and used it as his weapon. It just so happened to be his baseball bat.

Jisung slowly opened his bedroom door and looked left and right. Seeing that there was no one there, he crept down the hallway as quietly as he could.

He was about to turn the corner when someone from behind him suddenly wrapped their hand over Jisung's mouth and dragged him backwards. The force from being pulled back caught Jisung off guard causing him to drop his baseball bat. Jisung panicked and screamed as loud as he could but it sadly got muffled in the hand that was covering his mouth.

Jisung grabbed at the hand that was over his mouth but the person’s grip on him was too strong. Since he was being pulled back, Jisung couldn't properly get on his feet. So instead he flailed his arms and kicked his legs, trying to move as much as he could so the person who is gripping his body could loosen their grip.

The person dragged Jisung into his bedroom. Noticing that the person's hold on him wouldn't loosen any more, Jisung stopped moving around and tried to think of new ways to free himself because this was not how he is going to die. He would not accept his fate. So Jisung bit the person's hand.

The person let go of Jisung and yelled "Ow! What the fuck Jisung!"

Jisung could recognize that voice from anywhere. He turned around furious.

"SEUNGMIN? WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHAT THE FUCK JISUNG'? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU ASSHOLE?! WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT??" Jisung yelled as he punched Seungmin's arm as hard as he could.

Out of nowhere Felix and Jeongin entered his room and started laughing the hardest they've ever laughed in their life. This resulted in Seungmin letting out a little chuckle.

Jisung looked at them with a shocked expression, totally lost at what was happening.

"Y-you s-should've seen your f-face." Jeongin said in between laughs.

Felix was laughing so hard, he fell to the floor clutching his stomach. His eyes started to water from laughing too hard. Seungmin high fived Jeongin and Felix.

"We got his ass."

"What the hell was that for?" Jisung said slapping Seungmin's arm in the same place he punched it. "How the hell did you get into my house?"

Seungmin rubbed his sore arm "I told you I was going to get you. Also we've been friends for 5 years Jisung. I know your gate code and I know that you always forget to lock the door." He smirked.

"You're gonna give me a heart attack one day and kill me and you're gonna regret what you did to me." Jisung glared.

"Cheer up Jisung," Felix patted his shoulder. "You're still alive. Just be happy that it was Seungmin and not some actual dangerous person."

Jisung rolled his eyes, "I'll get you guys back one day."

Jeongin snorted, "No you won't, you'll forget about it later."

"Now!" Seungmin clapped his hands together, scaring everyone in the room. "What happened in detention?"

Jisung groaned and flopped on his bed, burying his face into his pillow. He did not want to talk about what happened.

"Hyung, you gotta tell us at some point. You can't keep this a secret." Jeongin sighed.

"Yeah but I can try." Jisung mumbled against his pillow.

"We're waiting." Felix sang.

"Ugh, ok fine!" Jisung sat up as the others took a seat on his bed too, eager to hear what happened.

He explained what happened without missing any detail. Telling them about how the teacher left and told them to clean the desks, about the things around Minho's wrist, about slipping and Minho catching him, about snapping at Minho, and about how Minho scared the living shit out of Jisung.

The other three looked lost in thought. A bit surprised at what happened.

"Are you an idiot?" Was the first thing Seungmin said to Jisung.

"I already know. I don't need you to tell me." Jisung groaned.

"Why would you snap at _the_ Lee Minho? Do you even use your brain??" Jeongin asked.

"How come he didn't hit you right then and there? I would've if I was him." Seungmin mumbled the last part but Jisung still heard and punched him on the arm.

"I don't know, obviously not, and I don't know." Jisung answered the questions. "But guys, I wish I could look at Minho's wrists again. If only I was able to get a closer look."

"Uhhhh.. Didn't know you had a thing for wrists?" Felix questioned.

Jisung swung a pillow at Felix's head. "Not like that you imbecile. I just want to see what was around his wrists. It was some kind of bump? Or birthmark? I don't know, it just didn't look right."

"Hyung, they're scars. He has really bad scars around his wrists. Don't you know that? I thought everyone knew that." Jeongin looked at Seungmin and Felix. The two gave Jeongin a nod to agree with what he said.

"Scars? From what?" Jisung raised an eyebrow.

Jeongin thought for a moment, "No one really knows. I mean Stray Kids probably know, but no one outside the gang knows."

"It's probably from fighting." Felix answered. "That's what everyone else says."

"How the hell do you get scars around your wrist from fighting?" Jisung questioned.

"You never know man. Gangs are wild."

"I mean I guess..." Jisung looked down.

He didn't believe what Felix said but he also didn't want to question any more. Jisung knew that, 'fighting' was definitely not the reason for the scars and he was determined to find out the real reason. How? He doesn't know yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> sorry if this chapter was boring. or if it felt dragged out. this was just kind of a filler chapter i guess??
> 
> this took me forever to write because i didn't know how to write it. it needed to transition into my other chapter but i didn't know how so i had writers block.
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- jisung you sweet dumbass bitch, you shoulda just stayed still


	7. s i x .

* * *

After a few hours, Jisung's friends finally left his house. The boy sat on his bed scrolling through his phone when he heard the front door open and footsteps in the living room. It gave Jisung deja vu from earlier today. His heartbeat started to quicken and he started to freak out. But all of those nerves disappeared when he heard a voice call out

"We're home bitch!" It was his brother. Soon followed by an "ow", probably from Jihyo slapping his arm for cursing.

Jisung got up from his bed and out his bedroom door. He walked down the stairs and spotted his sister and his brother sitting down at the table eating take out.

"Please tell me you got me some." Jisung prayed as he walked towards the table.

Both his siblings lifted their head at Jisung. "No, you didn't ask." Brian shrugged and went right back to eating his food. Jisung stopped in his tracks, speechless.

Jihyo threw her napkin at Brian which made him flinch, "Don't listen to that rat. We did buy you food." She smiled and handed the younger his food. "I could never forget about my favorite brother."

Brian scoffed as he threw the napkin back at Jihyo. Jisung took the food and sat down at the table as he high fived his sister. "No need to be so salty hyung. Deep down inside, we all knew it was true." Jisung smirked at his older brother.

"Ya! I'm the one who bought you your food. Don't test me, I'll take it back." He joked.

Jisung smiled "Thank you so much for the food you have bought me hyung. I'll be sure to mentally thank you every time I take a bite of the food." He exaggerated.

Brian rolled his eyes and ruffled Jisung's hair with his hands. "Just shut up and eat your food." The younger male laughed and dug into his food.

Even though Jisung teased his brother all the time, he's actually thankful for him and for his older sister. They were the ones who basically raised him.

Ever since Jisung was little, his parents were always busy with work. They were never ever home because they were always away on business trips after business trips. They come home maybe three times a year for about a week.

The maids they had in the house tried their hardest to raise Jisung and his siblings because they felt bad for them. Not having any parental figure at such a young age is cruel. They managed to keep up with it until Brian got old enough to care for himself and his two siblings.

His parents hired maids, butlers, and chefs for the house so the three wouldn't starve or anything but after Brian turned 16 he told all of the staff to rest at home and to only comeback to the house when his parents come home because he didn't feel the need to keep them there.

So Jihyo and Brian were basically the ones who fed Jisung. Who took him anywhere, took care of him, showed him any sort of love. Yeah sure Jisung knew his parents loved him but he never felt any of it because he never got the chance to. It's like his parents are total strangers to him. The maids were more of a parent to Jisung than his own parents. Even though the maids took care of him for only a little bit. It's still more than what his actual parents did.

Jisung's siblings are not that much older than him. Brian is 22 years old in his senior year of college. Jihyo is 20 years old in her sophomore year of college. Jisung's 17 years old in his junior year of high school. But they still managed to take care of him so he's extremely close with them.

-

After eating his food Jisung was sitting on the couch scrolling through his phone. He started to crave dessert so he went to freezer to get some chocolate ice cream. Sadly when he opened the freezer he couldn't find the chocolate ice cream he longed for.

"Who ate all the ice cream?" Jisung called out.

"What flavor?" Brian yelled back.

"Chocolate."

"You mean this chocolate ice cream?"

Jisung looked away from the freezer to look at the item Brian was holding up. It was the chocolate ice cream Jisung was looking for.

"Yes!" Jisung said happily.

"Yeah sorry, I already ate it all." Brian turned the ice cream tub to the side so Jisung could see the inside of the tub. There was maybe one scoop of ice cream left.

Jisung deflated. All he wanted was to eat some chocolate ice cream.

"Oh shit!" Jihyo yelled.

Brian flinched at the sudden loud noise and looked behind him at his younger sister. "What happened?"

"I forgot to buy some eggs while I was driving home. now I have to go get it." Jihyo groaned getting up.

Jisung perked up.

"Noona I can go get it for you." Jisung offered.

"No it's ok. I'll go get it. It's too dark outside, It'll be too dangerous for you to go get it." Jihyo explained.

"Noona please let me go get it. I'll be fine! I'm not a baby anymore. I'm bored anyways and I want some chocolate ice cream." Jisung tried to convince.

"Let me drive you then."

Jisung shook his head, "I wanna go alone. It's refreshing to go for a walk, you know, to get some fresh air."

Jihyo gave an unsure look at the younger.

"Pleaseeee." Jisung begged.

"Ugh alright fine. Be back quick and please be safe." Jihyo handed him some cash.

"Yay! Thank you." Jisung took the money and dashed upstairs to grab a coat. He ran back downstairs and put on some shoes and walked out the front door.

Jihyo sat back down and sighed.

"He'll be fine Jihyo, he's not a dumb kid." Brian tried to ease her nerves.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

-

Jisung didn't want to keep his older sister worried so he decided to take a short cut to the convenience store. He wanted to be as fast as possible.

Jisung was walking down the street in the dark. It would've been pitch black outside if it weren't for the street lamps that were keeping it somewhat light. He could also see the lights shining out of the buildings. The view of the city was absolutely breath taking. The weather was the perfect temperature. It wasn't hot, but it wasn't freezing cold either. It wasn't raining or windy. It was just how Jisung liked it, perfect.

The dark haired male enjoyed taking walks. He doesn't do it often but when he does, he loved it. It was relaxing and soothing for him. Taking a walk, a shower or late at night is the only time where Jisung can think clearly.

He quickly broke off to the right for the short cut. It noticeably got ugly. There weren't any buildings to give any beautiful scenery. Instead there were flickering street lamps and dark alleyways.

While walking down the sketchy street, Jisung had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew that in the movies, this scene never ended well. But nonetheless, he kept going, picking up his pace so he could get out of there as fast as he could. He definitely wasn't going to take this route on the way back home.

While walking he heard something in one of the alleys behind him. It sounded like a little girl crying. Jisung stopped in his tracks. He didn't know what to do. So many thoughts were rushing through his mind. He couldn't just leave this girl in this dark alley, she's gonna get hurt or even worse things are gonna happen to her.

Jisung took out his phone and turned on the flash so he could see clearly where he was going. He quickly followed the sound of the little girl crying and ended up in front of a dark alleyway about five feet away from where he was originally standing.

He saw a little girl crouching down with her face in her hands, crying. Slowly Jisung turned off his flash and walked up to her not wanting to scare her.

"Hey, what's wrong? Why are you here?" Jisung asked slowly.

The girl looked up wiping her tears. She had to be about 7 years old maybe. "I-I was walking w-with my m-mommy and I lost h-her. I t-tried looking f-for her and I e-ended up h-here." She hiccuped. "I'm s-scared."

_Well shit. I'm scared too._ Jisung thought to himself.

"I'll help you find your mom ok?" Jisung said softly.

She nodded, wiping more tears.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Jisung held his hand out. The little girl grabbed his hand and got up from her crouch.

When Jisung turned around he was face to face with a group of about 3 guys. They were all wearing black. One guy was in front and two guys were behind him. Kind of positioned like bowling pins. The head guy looked to be about early twenties. The other two guys seemed around Jisung's age.

Jisung quickly backed up away from the three guys. The little girl let go of his hand and started to run towards the head guy.

Jisung reached out his hand and tried to grab her because he didn't want her to get hurt by these sketchy guys, but he was too slow to grab her. The girl hugged the head guy which confused Jisung even more. _What the fuck is going on?_

"Good job Sooji. Your acting is getting better and better." The guy high fived the little girl who's name is apparently 'Sooji' before she ran off into the distance.

"Who is she and who are you?" Jisung managed to croak out.

"She, is my little sister. She helps me lure people in for my gang to kill." The head guy replies.

_Huh?? He did not just say gang. This is what I get for trying to do the right thing. What kind of messed up person trains their little sister to cry and uses her to bring them people to kill? Don't gangs have a list of people they want to kill? Why are these people picking up random people off the streets? Jesus Christ I should've let Jihyo noona drive me._

"W-what, are you going to kill me now?" Jisung stuttered.

The leader laughed. "I was planning to... But that doesn't seem interesting. It gets boring after a few dozen times." He walked closer to Jisung and the latter gulped. "I'm gonna have a little bit of fun instead, torturing you." He smiled.

Jisung started visibly shaking, he walked backwards but of course the world wasn't on his side and his back hit a brick wall, not allowing him to move anymore.

The leader motioned for the two guys behind him to move forward and the two guys walked towards Jisung. The latter flinched when they reached out to him. Each of them grabbed Jisung's arm and pulled him forward, towards the head guy. One guy kicked the back of Jisung's knees, forcing him to kneel in front of the leader. The hostage squirmed in their grasp, trying to get out of their grip but none of his attempts were successful.

"Please let go of me." Jisung begged, on the verge of tears.

The head guy smirked. "But that would be boring."

Jisung took this chance and screamed at the top of his lungs, "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!"

The leader brought his fist back and swung it at Jisung's left cheek which caused him to cry out in pain. His head snapped to the right and he could feel his left cheek throbbing in pain.

"Don't even try to scream. No one will hear you. No one walks around this part of the town because they're not stupid. Unlike you." The guy growled.

The two guys holding Jisung started to dig their nails into his arms, drawing blood. The dark haired male yelped.

"Drop him." The head guy said.

The two guys threw Jisung onto the floor and before Jisung could get up, one of them kicked his stomach and the other kicked his ribs, definitely leaving a bruise. Jisung couldn't get up, it was hard for him to be able to breathe.

"P-please stop. I'll do anything." Jisung managed to whisper.

"But I'm having so much fun right now." The leader smirked. He lifted his fist causing Jisung to close his eyes and flinch embracing for the impact.

The latter suddenly heard a grunt and quickly opened his eyes. He saw a guy with a hood over his head, holding the leader's fist that was in motion to punch Jisung. The other two guys were nowhere to be seen and the injured boy was confused on what happened to them.

The leader turned his head to see who was holding onto his arm. The moment he made eye contact with the hooded guy, his eyes grew wide and his skin went pale.

The hooded guy twisted the hand of the head guy and the sound of a crack echoed off the walls of the alley. The leader cried out in pain and his knees started to give out. The hooded guy took this chance to punch the leader. With a single punch, he was knocked out.

Jisung's savior took off his hood but the injured male still couldn't see his face because he had his back facing Jisung. The guy ran his hands through his hair and turned around.

Jisung finally made eye contact with the guy in front of him and gasped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: 
> 
> i was watching the avengers movies while writing this chapter lol. 
> 
> you got a bit of jisung's backstory in this chapter. so yay!
> 
> anyways hopefully you enjoyed this chapter because it took me forever to write. partially because i was watching movies but also because i didn't know how i wanted to write this chapter. i think it turned out ok :)
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- how sweet of him  
\- i smell trouble~~


	8. s e v e n .

_The hooded guy took off his hood. Jisung still couldn't see his face because the guy's back was facing him. The guy ran his hands through his hair and turned around._

_Jisung finally made eye contact with the guy in front of him and gasped._

_Is this for real?_ Jisung thought, totally speechless.

"Lee Minho?" Jisung eyes widened as he stared at the person in front of him.

"Han Jisung." Minho stated back.

"W-what are you doing here?"

"I could be asking you the same thing"

"I... Uh..." Jisung hesitated. Minho raised an eyebrow at him.

Jisung was debating whether or not to trust him. I mean he is the scariest person at school. In the end Jisung decided to just tell Minho because he saved him after all.

Jisung sighed and struggled to stand up. Lifting his foot to take a step but the pain in his stomach and ribs intensified. He winced and started to fall to the ground.

Minho saw this and quickly moved his feet. He softly grabbed Jisung's waist to prevent him from falling. As a reflex, Jisung placed his hands on Minho's shoulder. The taller boy gave a look of confusion to Jisung, waiting for him to explain himself.

"I-I was taking a short cut to the convenience store when I heard a little girl crying in this alley. I tried to help her but turns out she was luring me in so her brother's gang could torture me and kill me." After saying that, Jisung remembered that Minho was in a gang too. Not to mention, the most dangerous gang.

Jisung quickly pulled away from Minho's grasp and stepped back. Without Minho's support, the pain in Jisung's stomach and ribs became relevant again. This caused Jisung to crouch down holding his stomach, while wincing in pain.

"Jihyo noona's probably worried sick." Jisung mumbled but Minho heard what he said.

Minho crouched down in front of Jisung with his back facing towards him.

"Jump on." Minho told Jisung and the latter hesitated.

Noticing the boy's hesitation Minho said "Jisung, if you want to go home you're gonna have to get on cause you can't walk on your own. The faster you hop on the faster you can go home to ease your sister's worries. I know what you're thinking, I might be in a gang but contrary to popular beliefs, we don't kill random people like the other gang does. I just saved your ass, I'm not going to hurt you. Now for the last time, get on because I'm not going to ask again."

He wasn't wrong. If Minho wanted to hurt Jisung he wouldn't have saved him from the three guys. Jisung sighed and slowly got on his back, still cautious of Minho's actions and careful not to hurt his stomach.

Once Jisung wrapped his arms around Minho's neck and Minho got a good grip on Jisung's thighs, he stood up and started walking out of the alley.

It was quiet for a couple of minutes other than when Jisung told Minho which direction to go.

"W-why were you there?" Jisung built the courage to ask.

"I was just taking a walk and I heard someone scream for help. I went to check it out and I saw you on the floor getting kicked." He explained.

"But you're in the Stray Kids. They're known to be dangerous. Why would you want to help anyone." Jisung said out loud. He realized how rude he sounded and stiffened. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude." He stuttered quickly and quietly.

Minho sighed, "Just because I'm in the most dangerous gang doesn't mean we're the cruelest gang. We don't like to kill random people. We only kill people who are bad."

Jisung was so confused. Was this the same dude who threatened Jisung earlier today? Everything he believed about Minho and the gang was far from the truth. But what was the truth? Minho isn't as cold hearted as everyone perceived him to be. He actually has feelings and emotions. The gang weren't cruel and evil people. His whole life seemed like a lie now.

Jisung was about to ask Minho why he saved him but suddenly Minho quickened his pace and turned a random corner. He quietly hid behind a tall bush.

"Minho what are you doing? I told you to keep going straight, not turn left." Jisung questioned.

"Shhh" was all Minho whispered back.

Jisung was lost but remained quiet because he didn't want to disobey Minho's words, scared of what would happen if he did. _This is it. This is when and where Minho’s going to murder me._

A guy suddenly turned the corner and walked past them quickly. He looked lost. He kept looking around behind him or to the side as if he was trying to find something or someone. He stopped in his tracks with his back towards us. The dude whipped out his phone and started to type quickly on his phone, probably texting someone.

"Do you think you can stand on your own for a second?" Minho whispered.

"Yeah I can." Jisung replied confused.

Minho slowly crouched down and Jisung got off carefully.

Once Jisung was off of him, Minho quietly moved out from behind the bush and quickly walked up behind the guy. He was too busy texting to notice anything around him so Minho grabbed his arm and pushed him against the brick wall. The guy looked up with wide eyes and turned off his phone.

"Why were you following me this whole time?" Minho growled.

The guy looked surprised and speechless, "H-how-"

"I'm not stupid. I know when someone is following me. Now tell me why you were spying on me." Minho seethed.

Now this is the same Minho that threatened Jisung. Minho was absolutely furious, it scared the shorter even though Minho wasn't mad at him. Jisung could feel the rage radiating off of the gang member’s body. If looks could kill, the dude against the wall would've been slaughtered.

"I-I wasn't spying on you. I swear!" He managed to stutter. Minho looked unconvinced.

The guy continued, "I-I was walking home from the convenience store and I went through a short cut." He lifted his grocery bag to prove himself. "I saw a group of guys walking and I got scared so I hid. They turned to an alley and I stayed hiding cause I was too scared to move. Then I saw you go in and come out, piggy backing another guy. I guessed that you saved the other dude from the group of guys so I quickly got up from my hiding spot and followed you because I didn't want to become a target and you seemed to be safe to be around especially in the dark. I planned to stop following you after I got out of the street but you were walking the same way as my house anyways so I wasn't even trying to follow you."

"Then why did you turn into this corner looking around as if you were looking for someone." Minho continued to interrogate.

"I was looking for a street name because I noticed that I wasn't in a familiar place anymore. Then I gave up and took my phone out to go on my map app." He explained.

"It seemed like you were typing a whole paragraph though?" Minho questioned.

"I was just texting my mom about what happened because she's asking why I'm taking so long. I really need to go my mom’s worried." He said in a rush.

"What's your name?"

"Choi Yeonjun."

After a few seconds, Minho moved out of his way and Yeonjun quickly walked away.

Minho walked back to the bush and bent down. Jisung got on his back once again and Minho stood up. He began to walk to the injured boy’s home. Jisung was very intimidated by the taller male. After he heard the tone in Minho's voice change drastically, he was reminded again on why he was terrified of Minho in the first place and why he should never mess with him.

The rest of the walk was quiet. Jisung was too scared to start up a conversation. At some point during the walk, Minho abruptly stopped and that caused Jisung's bruises ribs hit against Minho's back and that made him cry out in pain. Minho decided to bridal carry Jisung for the rest of the way which wasn't far.

As they finally got to Jisung's house, Jisung pushed in the code for the gate and Minho walked up the driveway.

"Hey Jisung?" Minho said. Jisung looked up at Minho and hummed in response.

"Don't go through that street again. Especially at night. It's dangerous. You seriously could've died if I wasn't there." He said as he kept his eyes on the house.

"Don't worry, I won't. I'm not gonna make the same mistakes twice. I'm not that stupid." Jisung lightly laughed.

Minho continued up the stairs that led to the front door. He knocked on the door and waited.

When the door opened, Minho was face to face with a girl that looked a little older than him. He guessed that it was Jisung’s older sister. It looked like she had been crying. Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks looked tear stained. Her face went from confusion to realization and shock to joy to worry.

She gasped, "Jisung oh my god! Are you ok?!" She rushed to check Jisung's face and noticed a bruise forming.

"Hi noona" Jisung smiled softly.

Suddenly a guy appeared at the door. Minho guessed that it was Jisung's brother since they looked alike. His brother saw Jisung and relief had over flowed his face, quickly being replaced with worry.

"Jisung what happened!?" He rushed over to Jisung's side.

"Guys I'm fine." Jisung replied.

Minho scoffed, "You can't even stand up. What do you mean you're fine."

The worry in both Jisung's sibling's eyes got more intense.

Minho handed Jisung to the brother and the brother quickly brought Jisung inside to check on him. Not giving Jisung a chance to thank Minho for saving his life.

"Do you know who hurt Jisung?" His sister asked Minho.

"Um, Jisung said it was a gang?" Minho replied.

"Oh my god." His sister looked really distressed and Minho felt bad for her. "Do you want stay over for the night? It’s really late and dark. I don't want you to get hurt either by the gangs. Especially those Stray Kids boys." She offered.

Minho gave a soft smile on the outside but laughed in the inside at the irony. If only she knew.

"Thank you for the offer but I have to get home before my mom finds out that I'm not home. Don't worry about me, I know how to protect myself and I don’t live too far from here." The excuse wasn't entirely false but it was all true either.

"Thank you, by the way. For bringing Jisung home and please be safe while walking back home." The girl sincerely said.

"You're welcome and I will." Minho smiled and with that, he walked back home.

-

"Yo boss I saw _him_ today."

The boss turned around in his chair, "I know I got your text. Where did you see him?"

"In an alley."

"What was he doing there?"

"Well I was walking down that _one_ street when I saw this group of people huddled in the back of an alley. I stopped and took a closer look at what was happening. It was the N.Flying gang again. Chahoon and Jaehyun were holding a guy who was kneeling on the floor in front of Seunghyub. The guy kneeling yelled for help-"

"I asked what _he_ was doing there. Not what N.Flying was doing to this guy. What does this have anything to do with _him_?" The boss asked annoyed.

"- after he yelled for help he started to get punched by the gang. The two guys holding the random dude let go of him and walked behind Seunghyub. Then I saw this other person with his hood on, walk down the street and into the alley. He quietly and quickly dragged Jaehyun out of the alley, with his hand over his mouth and knocked him out in one punch. The guy went back into the alley and dragged Chahoon out and knocked him out too. That's when I realized the guy with the hood was _Lee Minho_. He went back into the alley and I moved to get a closer look. He knocked out the leader."

"Let me guess," The man in the chair rolled his eyes "Minho also punched the guy on the floor."

The guy in front his boss shook his head, "He helped the guy who got beat up."

That caught the attention of the man in the chair, "He did _what_?"

"The guy who got beat up, tried to stand up but he started to fall and Minho caught him before he touched the floor. Then Minho crouched before him and he got on Minho's back. Minho then carried him back home I'm guessing."

The boss was shocked and amused. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Who is this guy?"

"I don't know. I'm guessing it's a classmate of his."

"That makes no sense. Why would Lee Minho do so much just to save a classmate of his? I doubt that's just a classmate."

"Well who else could he be? The guy looked pretty surprised when he saw Minho in front of him too."

"I don't know yet. Maybe a potential partner?"

"But the guy was useless. He obviously knows nothing about fighting or else he would've fought back when he was getting beat up. He's definitely not in a gang so how would Stray Kids partner up with him and his gang when he's not in one."

The boss kicked the shin of the guy in front of him, "Are you an idiot? That's not what I meant. Obviously he's not in a gang. I meant maybe they're potential lovers."

The guy shot a glare as he rubbed his shin and raised his eyebrow, "Lovers? That's definitely not possible. Minho has never looked at anyone other than his gang, nonetheless walked with anyone other than his gang and this guy for sure is not in Stray Kids."

The man in the chair thought for a moment.

"That's true, but you never know what's happening in their school. They could be really close during school hours."

"I doubt that. Minho's reputation in school is not very positive. He may be very popular but he's a jerk and everyone's afraid of him. He doesn't talk to anyone other than his gang members"

"How do you even know that. You don't go to their school."

The guy scoffed. "I know more than you."

"I will throw a knife and kill you."

The guy laughed "Oh I'm so scared." He rolled his eyes "You wouldn't kill your best friend, you also need me because I'm the most helpful person in this gang."

"Whatever." The boss rolled his eyes "What are we gonna do with Minho."

"What do you mean? What is there to do with Minho?"

"All these years we've been trying to find Minho's weak spot."

"Ok so? We haven't found it yet."

The seated man sighed, wondering how he became friends with someone so clueless, "Minho has never saved a random person in his life. It's usually someone in his gang, people who he loves."

"Well Minho probably knows the dude from school and knew he wasn't guilty of anything so he tried to save him since he's innocent."

"Or maybe Minho feels something towards him."

"That would make no sense. Why would he go for someone like him? There's nothing special about him. He's weak and useless."

The man in the chair shrugged, "Well apparently Minho is full of surprises." He thought for a moment "I have a plan. Call the rest of our gang."

The guy in front of him was about to leave when his boss said,

"Oh and good job today. I'm glad you're in this gang with me, _Yeonjun_."

Yeonjun smiled, "Of course bro. What're best friends for?" He winked and went to gather the gang to hear the plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: 
> 
> ooooo trouble is stirring up. who is this boss? What does he want to do with minho?
> 
> it feels so awkward typing 'brian'. it doesn't match with jihyo and jisung lmao. but i don't want to type 'young k' cause that's weird or 'younghyun' because that just takes too long. 
> 
> school started recently and so my updates are gonna be slower but i'll still update once a week :)
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- jisung's worst fear


	9. e i g h t .

When Brian brought Jisung inside, he placed him on the couch.

"Are you ok?" Brian asked worried.

"Hyung I swear I'm fine." Jisung reassured.

"No you're not. That guy who brought you here said that you can't even walk." Brian argued.

"I can walk. Minho was just lying." Jisung argued.

Brian raised an eyebrow. He stood up and crossed his arms, "Stand up. Now."

Jisung rolled his eyes and tried to lift his upper half of the body off of the couch but again, the pain shot through this stomach and ribs. He shut his eyes in pain and fell back down on the couch.

Brian's eyes softened, "Jisung, what the fuck happened." He asked again.

This was when Jihyo came in. She rushed over to her little brother. "Jisung oh my god I was worried sick. I was about to call the cops. Are you ok? The guy who brought you here said it was a gang. I knew I should've driven you to the store." Jihyo rambled.

"A gang?!" Brian stared intensely at his younger brother.

Jisung opened his mouth to say something but Brian beat him to it.

"If you say you're fine one more time I'm going to punch every part of your body just to see how 'fine' you are."

Jisung quickly closed his mouth and thought of his next few words carefully. He decided that telling them the truth was the best choice.

"I was walking to the convenience store and decided to the the short cut through that dark street because I knew how worried Jihyo noona was so I tried to be as fast as I can. I heard a girl crying because she was lost but she was actually just luring me for her brother to kill me. He's in a gang. He punched me and these two other guys kicked my stomach and ribs. Then Minho came in and helped me out." Jisung looked down, playing with his fingers.

"We need to get you to a hospital right now." Brian got up quickly from his seated position.

"No!" Jisung immediately replied. "Please don't take me to a hospital."

"Jisung you can't even stand up without crying in pain. One of your ribs is probably broken. We are going to the hospital whether you want to or not." Brian went to go grab a coat from his room upstairs.

Jisung quickly averted his vision to Jihyo, looking desperate, "Noona please don't take me to the hospital. I promise I'm fine. I'll be ok by tomorrow. please."

The older sighed, "Fine. But if by the morning you still can't stand up, then we're taking you to the hospital asap." She ruffled Jisung's hair and stood up. She walked upstairs probably to tell Brian the plan.

Jisung sighed out of relief. Jisung never liked the hospital. He doesn't really know why. The whole vibe of hospitals gives him anxiety. X-rays, mri's, etc. weren't really his thing. He always tried to avoid getting hurt so he wouldn't have to go to the emergency room.

So far in his seventeen years of living, he has never had to go to the hospital because he was hurt. Sure he's gone for shots and check ups but never because he was injured. The thought of him probably having to get an x-ray to check his ribs was terrifying for him.

Brian came back to pick Jisung up and take him to his bed. "You're lucky Jihyo is good with her words or else we would be driving to the hospital right now." Brian stated and Jisung laughed.

The older entered Jisung's room and gently placed Jisung down on the bed. "Go to sleep. You need some rest." The brother grabbed Jisung's comforter and tucked him in. Giving himself deja vu from when he would tuck Jisung in every night when the younger was younger.

"Good night." The taller said before walking out the room, closing the door.

Five minutes later the door opened again. Jihyo popped her head in, "Get some rest cause I have a feeling you're going to go to the hospital in the morning." She winked and Jisung groaned.

She walked over to Jisung and kissed his forehead, "Good night." And then she left the room.

Jisung looked up at the ceiling recalling what happened today. It was the first day of school, he was forced to sit next to Minho, he was in detention with Minho, he almost got kidnapped by his friends, he almost died, Minho saved him and took him home. This was the most eventful day of his life.

Jisung started to think about the hospital and tried to calm his nerves, convincing himself it wasn't going to be as bad as he thinks. He still secretly begged God to magically heal him overnight so he wouldn't have to go as he slowly drifted off to dreamland.

-

Jisung woke up in agony. Everything hurt. Not just his stomach ribs and face, his whole body was sore. His wrists hurt from the tight grip of the two men and the cuts from their nails.

The injured boy heard footsteps coming to his room. He quickly closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.

When the door opened, he heard his sister say, "Oh he's still asleep."

"Let's come back later, when he's awake." This time it was his brother speaking.

_Idiots. I'm gonna drag this out for as long as I can. I will not go to the hospital._

When Jisung heard the door close again, he sighed. He rubbed his eyes and opened them only to meet two pairs of eyes staring back at him.

"AHH!" Jisung screamed before groaning again from the pain.

"Do you really think we're that stupid?" Brian scoffed with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Do you have to scare me like that?! Jesus fucking christ." Jisung put his hand over his heart, breathing heavily.

"How do you feel?" Jihyo walked over to the side of Jisung's bed looking at the noticeable bruise on his cheek.

"I feel fine actually. No pain at all. I don't need to go to the hospital." Jisung giving his most convincing smile.

Brian raised an eyebrow "Oh really? Stand up."

Jisung tried to think of an excuse quick "Uhh.. I can't because.. I'm really comfortable. Yeah, I'm so comfortable right now I don't want to stand up just yet. I want to enjoy this."

Jihyo gave a bored look at Brian.

The oldest sibling walked over to Jisung's bedside "If you really are fine then I guess you won't care if sit on your stomach and ribs."

He turned around and stuck his butt out, about to sit on Jisung's stomach. Jisung panicked and swatted Brian's butt away which only resulted in more pain for him. Brian faces his younger brother with his hands crossed and raised his eyebrows at the him.

"Jisung tell us the truth. We know you're not ok." Jihyo sighed.

Jisung avoided eye contact, sighing in defeat, "Fine. It does hurt. I'm in so much pain right now. Doing any movement hurts. Even trying to breath hurts really bad."

Brian and Jihyo became 10x more worried. "Jisung oh my god I didn't think it was this bad. Why didn't you tell us. We would've taken you to the hospital yesterday." Brian said.

"That's exactly why I didn't tell you yesterday." Jisung mumbled.

"Jisung you have to think about your health first. Not your fear of hospitals." Brain left the room to get a jacket.

"You can't avoid the hospital forever Jisung. You know that we have to take you there. There could be serious broken bones or fractures. Your lungs could be punctured. We have to get it checked out." She ran her fingers through his hair. "Sorry bud."

Jisung pouted. He knew that they were going to take him no matter what so he gave up trying to stop them.

Brian came back into the room holding a hoodie. He walked over to the bed and tossed the hoodie at Jihyo.

"Thanks." Jihyo put on the sweatshirt. The older nodded.

Brian bent over and placed his hands in between Jisung and the bed. One hand wrapped around his knees and the other gripped his shoulder. The older straightened his back as he scooped the smaller up and pulled him to his stomach.

All three got out of the house and walked to the Brian's car. He unlocked it and Jihyo opened the back door and climbed in. Brian gently laid Jisung into the back seat so that Jisung's head was placed on Jihyo's lap. He closed the door and climbed into drivers seat, driving to the hospital.

Jisung was scared as hell. That drive to the hospital was the slowest drive in his whole life. His heart was pounding against his chest.

When they arrived to the hospital, Brian opened the back door and carefully carried Jisung to emergency room. Jihyo followed closely behind. The oldest talked to the desk people explaining what happened. The nurses laid Jisung in a stretcher and quickly took him away to get checked.

Jihyo and Brian had to wait nervously in his hospital room while they checked what's wrong with Jisung.

-

After an hour or so the nurses wheeled Jisung back into his room with the doctor following close behind. Brian and Jihyo stood up from their seated position rushing beside Jisung. The latter looked up at his siblings and gave a weak smile.

"We ran many x-rays on Jisung to see why he was in so much pain." The doctor continued "We saw a broken rib that was puncturing one of his lungs which is why he was having trouble breathing. There's nothing wrong with his stomach, it's just bruised really bad."

"Does he need surgery for his broken rib?" Jihyo asked worried.

The doctor shook his head "No he doesn't. But he's going to have to stay in the hospital for at least three days so we can closely monitor and help his broken rib. We gave Jisung some pain killers and other medicine to help the ribs. We also gave some ointment for his wrists and bandages them up. His lungs are fine so he should be fine to go home Monday night."

"Thank you so much." Brian said to the doctor and nurses.

"No problem. We'll leave you guys now. We're gonna check up on Jisung every hour." With that, the doctor and nurses left the room.

"How are you feeling?" Brian asked his little brother.

"I feel a lot better. Not as much pain and I can finally breathe properly. I'm just really sore now." Jisung replied.

"You're an idiot." Brian said which resulted in Jihyo slapping his arm. "You could have died yesterday Jisung. Were you even using your brain?" He continued.

Jisung looked down, "I'm fine now. I didn't die. Stop worrying."

"How am I supposed to stop worrying when you make these dumb decisions that could get you killed."

"Brian stop. It's my fault, I shouldn't have let him go out that late at night." Jihyo said.

Jisung looked at his sister "Noona stop. It's not your fault. It's my fault for taking that shortcut anyways. stop blaming yourself. Anyways I learned my lesson and I'm not gonna make such stupid decisions anymore."

Brian sighed, "Even though I'm still mad at you, I'm just glad you're ok Jisung. Thank god that Minho kid was there to save you. What a nice fellow." Jisung scoffed at that.

"How do you even know him?" Jihyo asked.

"He's in my class. He sits next to me." Jisung debated whether or not to tell them about getting into detention but he didn't want to expose himself.

"Hm he seems really nice. Are you guys friends or what?"

Jisung snorted, "Nah, we aren't friends. Just classmates."

Brian and Jihyo has confused looks on their faces.

Jisung ignored their facial expression. "Oh my god speaking of school, I have to stay in here for three days. I'm going to miss school on Monday. It's the second day of school and I'm already missing it."

Brian chuckled "You'll be fine. Just ask Felix to bring you your homework. or Wonpil's brother, Seungmin."

Jisung slapped his forehead, "I didn't even tell them what happened to me. They're gonna flip when they find out I wasn't at school because I was in the hospital."

As if on cue, Seungmin, Felix, and Jeongin busted into the room with concern written all over their face. Jisung snapped his neck towards the door and stared at his friends with big eyes and his mouth wide open.

"Oh my god hyung are you ok?!" Jeongin asked the boy laying in the hospital bed.

"Wha-what what the hell are you guys doing here? How'd you know I was here? What the fuck?" Jisung asked shocked.

"We called them while you were getting checked. I thought you would've liked to see your friends after all that's happened." Brian explained while Jisung's friends walked next to Jisung's side.

Jisung smiled a genuine smile "Thanks hyung. I appreciate it."

Brian nodded "Anyways me and Jihyo are gonna go back home to get some clothes and stuff so we'll be right back." Jihyo and Brian exited the room leaving Jisung with his friends.

"Are you ok Jisung?" Seungmin's asked looking at his bandaged arms and the bruise on his face.

"I'm fine. Seriously, the doctors gave me some pain killers so I'm chilling right now." Jisung assured.

"Ok then what the hell happened??" Felix asked.

Jisung explained what had happened to him for the third time. By the time he was done, his friends looked at him with complete shock.

"Jisung I thought you were smarter than that. Who voluntarily goes into a sketchy street at night? I'm just glad you're all right." Seungmin said.

"I know I know." Jisung looked down.

"Ok but wait, Lee Minho, the guy who won't hesitate to swing his fist if you accidentally bump into him, saved you from a gang attack AND carried you back home? That doesn't seem right." Felix commented. Jeongin nodded in agreement.

"Trust me, I know. I don't believe it either. I never got to thank him though. I'm just confused as to why he saved me." Jisung furrowed his eyebrows.

"Maybe he's not as bad as we think he is." Jeongin suggested.

Jisung, Seungmin and Felix looked at Jeongin. "Are you hearing what's coming out of your mouth right now?" Seungmin asked. "This one kind act doesn't make up for all the bad ones he's done."

Jeongin sighed. "Yeah yeah you're right."

They stayed quiet for a moment. It wasn't an awkward, they were just appreciating everyone's presence.

"...Did you get to see Minho's wrists though?" Felix wiggled his eyebrows at Jisung. Seungmin and Jeongin let out a laugh.

Jisung glared, "Felix, I was dying. I didn't have time to think about his wrists, I was too focused on surviving."

Felix held his hands up as if he was surrendering. "Hey, it was a harmless question. I'm not the one who has the wrist fetish."

"If I didn't have to keep my movements to a minimal for my ribs to heal, then I would've slapped you with this pillow." Felix chuckled.

"I'll help you Jisung." Seungmin punched Felix's shoulder.

"Ow! I did not appreciate that." Felix rubbed his shoulder. Jisung shook his head laughing.

The four of them kept talking until Brian and Jihyo came back. When his friends left, Jisung was exhausted. He felt bad for his siblings since they had to sleep in a chair. Jisung tried to convince them to go home and sleep but they insisted that they wouldn't leave Jisung alone.

The latter looked up at the ceiling, _These next two days are gonna be boring as hell. I'm glad I'm not going to school monday though. I don't think I would be able to face Minho. What's gonna happen now?_

Slowly Jisung drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> this just a filler chapter so not much really happened.
> 
> i also have never been to the emergency room so i have no idea how it works or what happens there so i'm sorry if what i said made no sense or if it's medically incorrect because i bullshitted it.
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- thank you ???  
\- a project ???


	10. n i n e .

It's Monday. That means it's finally the day where Jisung is allowed to go home.

These three days were HELL. Jisung was bored out of his mind. His friends visited him whenever they could and brought food for Jisung to eat since hospital food isn't good. But all Jisung wanted was to sleep in his warm and comfortable bed. He hated being in this white room, in the same position, eating the same food.

The doctor came in and told Jisung he was able to leave whenever he wanted. Jisung basically jumped out of the bed when the doctor left the room. He was finally FREE.

Jisung checked the time. _12:47 P.M_. The latter could still make it in time for lunch and his last three periods.

He was debating whether or not to go when he heard his sister speak to him. "Jisung you're not going to school."

The latter's eyes opened in surprised. He pointed at his sister, "How'd you know I was thinking about that?"

Jihyo rolled her eyes, "I basically raised you, I know you better than you know yourself. Just stay home and rest, you can go to school tomorrow."

Jisung groaned, "That's all I've been doing these past three days. Resting. I want to go do something."

Brian stood up from the chair he was sitting on and slung his arm around Jisung's shoulder, "You can do that tomorrow. The more you rest, the faster you're gonna heal."

Jisung pouted.

"Cheer up little brother. If you don't go to school then we'll watch your favorite movies and eat your favorite foods."

Jisung's eyes lit up, "Deal."

-

Jisung woke up sore the next morning, obviously, but he felt great. The latter was excited he was finally going to do something productive today instead of laying in bed the whole day.

After he finally got ready and put on his uniform, he called out to his sister. Jihyo opened Jisung's door and poked her head in.

"What's up."

"Can I use your makeup? I want to cover this bruise on my cheek. I'm not really in the mood for my classmates to ask me what happened." Jisung asked.

"Yeah, I'll be right back." Jihyo left the room.

She came back with something in her hand. "Sit down."

Jisung sat down at his desk chair and turned around to face his sister. "What is that?"

"It's called concealer, it'll hide your bruise. Just don't touch your cheek or it'll smudge and wipe away." Jihyo started to apply the concealer on her brother's cheek.

Jisung flinched at the sudden coldness on his cheek. Jihyo gently dabbed the concealer on his cheek to blend it out, careful to not push too hard on the bruise.

"And done." Jihyo straightened her back, closing the tube.

Jisung looked at himself in the mirror. The spot on his cheek that was once yellow and purple, was now replaced with his usually skin tone.

Jisung widened his eyes. "What the heck? That stuff is magic."

Jihyo laughed, "Go downstairs and eat some breakfast."

"I don't eat breakfast."

"You better eat the breakfast I made you. You owe me after I helped you cover up your bruise." She blackmailed.

"Fine." Jisung got up from his seat and went downstairs to eat the breakfast his sister made him. He saw his brother sitting at the table eating too.

"Jisung don't forget about your drugs." Brian reminded him, snickering.

Jisung rolled his eyes. "Pain killers. They're called pain killers."

"Same thing." Brian shrugged.

When Jisung was finished, he got up to put his dishes in the sink. The latter swallowed his pain killers and slung his backpack in his shoulders. He walked out the door and the gate onto the sidewalk.

"Jisung wait up!" Jisung heard Felix call out.

Jisung turned around and saw his friend jogging to him.

"How are you feeling?" Felix asked as they started to walk towards the school.

"Much better." Jisung smiled.

"Good. I hate seeing you in pain."

"Awwww does Felix care about me?" Jisung cooed.

Felix rolled his eyes and slightly pushed Jisung, "Shut up."

Jisung started laughing.

When they arrived at school they met up with Seungmin and Jeongin.

"So do you feel better?" Jeongin asked.

"Yes, yes. I feel better. I'm still taking pain medicine and other stuff for my ribs but I'm fine." Jisung gave a smile to help reassure that he's fine. "So what happened at school yesterday?"

"Eh just the usual. The trio came into class late like always." Seungmin stated and Jisung nodded his head.

"OH!" Felix shouted out of nowhere, making everyone jump. "That one dude in our class... uhh, oh! Choi San. He bumped into Minho's desk on accident and made Minho mess up on what he was writing. Poor San was absolutely petrified of what he was going to do next and immediately started apologizing for what he did. I was absolutely certain that Minho would punch him, but all he said was 'whatever' and went back to writing. Everyone in the classroom including the teacher was caught off guard. Even Changbin and Hyunjin looked confused. Everyone expected San to be on the floor in pain but instead he walked back to his desk in one piece."

Jisung thought for a moment. "That's weird."

"Yeah exactly! Minho usually would use his fist in that situation!"

"Maybe he's changing for the better." Jeongin suggested which made Seungmin, Felix, and Jisung start laughing.

"Yeah cause that's realistic." Seungmin said sarcastically.

"Minho? Being nice? There's a better chance of North and South Korea signing a peace treaty than Minho becoming nice." Felix said which caused his friends to laugh.

Jeongin pouted at his friends teasing him, "Well why else would he do that?"

"I'll give Jeongin the benefit of the doubt. Maybe Minho is changing for the better." Jisung commented.

"Speaking of Jeongin," Seungmin began "He bumped into a special someone." He wiggled his eyebrows at the younger.

At the mention of the incident, Jeongin widened his eyes and his face turned red.

Jisung turned his head towards Jeongin and smirked.

"Oh yeah! Jeongin totally ran into Yedam on accident during lunch yesterday. His cheeks started blushing like crazy and he was a stuttering mess. It was the funniest thing." Felix teased.

Jeongin was beyond embarrassed and hid his face in his hands. "Stop it. That was actually the most embarrassing moment of my life." The three started laughing.

"Hey look on the bright side, at least you got to talk to him." Jisung patted Jeongin's back.

"Apparently Yedam already knew Jeongin's name." Felix said.

Jeongin looked up from his hands with his eyes bright, "Yeah he does! When I bumped into him, I started apologizing and he said 'It's ok Jeongin. I wasn't watching where I was going either so I guess it's both of our faults.' And then he let out the most adorable little laugh ever. I felt like I was gonna melt to the floor. I didn't think he even knew I existed in this world."

"Jeongin, literally everyone in JYP High School knows who you are. You're the little baby of the school. Everyone treats you like their child. Of course Yedam knows who you are." Seungmin commented. Jeongin looked confused.

"Are you serious. You never realized how everyone treats you? You don't notice how everyone smiles at you in the hallways and how they gush after you smile back cause you're so cute?"

Jeongin shook his head "No?"

"He's been too busy looking and thinking about Yedam." Jisung teased making Felix and Seungmin laugh while Jeongin groaned.

The first bell went off, warning the students that they had five minutes to get to class before they're late.

The four friends bid goodbye and walked to their classroom. When Jisung walked into class, he noticed that Minho wasn't there. Disappointment filled Jisung's heart.

_What? Why am I feeling disappointed?_ Jisung shook his head. _No. I am not disappointed. I'm glad he's not here. Then I can relax and enjoy class without worrying about him. _Jisung tried to convince himself.

The latter sat down at his desk and took out his notebook to take notes.

-

In the middle of the second subject, the door opened and in came the three boys.

"You're late. Care to explain why?" Mr. Park had said.

The three boys ignored the teacher and sat down at their desk.

The teacher sighed and continued on with the lesson.

-

After the third subject, it was finally time for lunch. Jisung was cleaning up when he remembered he never thanked Minho for what he did.

Jisung turned to his friends. "I'll meet you at the cafeteria, I have to go do something first."

Felix and Seungmin gave him a weird look but nonetheless left the classroom without asking him any questions.

Jisung looked to his right and saw Minho sitting at his desk, cleaning up the mess of papers he made on his desk. Jisung got up from his desk and leaned against it, facing Minho.

"H-hey, uh Minho." Jisung stuttered.

Minho stopped moving and looked at Jisung. Giving an unreadable expression.

"I never got to thank you so uh, thank you for um saving my life." Jisung played with his sleeves.

Jisung refused to make eye contact with Minho so he looked at Minho's desk instead. Jisung glanced at Minho's wrist but it was covered by his jacket. His eyes traveled down his wrists to his hands and that was when Jisung noticed the bruises and cuts on Minho's knuckles.

"Uh yeah." Minho said uninterested.

"Are you ok?" Jisung blurted out, looking at the gang member.

By now, all the students had already left the classroom. Even Changbin and Hyunjin. They noticed Minho was talking to someone so they just left and waited for their friend at the door. Jisung and Minho were all alone.

Minho gave a confused look at Jisung. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean your knuckles. They're bruised and cut. Are you ok? When did you get those?"

Minho stayed silent.

Before Jisung could stop himself, he reached over to grab Minho's hand so he could inspect his knuckles which was placed on top of his desk.

Minho saw this action and quickly moved his hands from the table onto his lap before Jisung could touch his hand.

"Don't touch me, I'm fine." Minho said emotionlessly.

Jisung frowned at this and drew his hand back to his side.

"Did you get them on Friday? When you punched those three guys?" Jisung interrogated.

"Why do you ask so many questions? Don't worry about it. I said I'm fine." Minho snapped back glaring at the younger.

"I-if you got them on Friday from when you punched the three guys to save me then I'll feel bad since you got those because of me." Jisung looked down in guilt. He didn't want to look at Minho.

"Did you forget who I am? This is what I do everyday. My knuckles are always bruised. I'm used to it. So stop worrying about me cause it's getting annoying and you're wasting my time." Minho growled, getting up from his desk. Jisung flinched at his sudden movement.

Minho roughly grabbed all his papers and notebooks and walked out the door. Not even giving Jisung a single glance.

A bunch of thoughts were running through Jisung's mind. _I don't understand him. Yeah, he's always a cold person but why was he so nice to me on Friday? Jeongin's wrong, Minho is definitely not changing for the better. I'm stupid for even thinking that was possible. Why did I even try to touch his knuckles oh my god I'm so stupid. Why do I even care about his stupid bruises and cuts._

Jisung sat at his desk and lowered his forehead onto the desk top. He banged his forehead on his desk. "Why. Am. I. So. Stupid."

Jisung sighed and got up from his seat. He didn't want to go to lunch. His appetite was long gone, but he still walked to the cafeteria because he knew his friends were gonna get worried.

When Jisung arrived to his table, he slumped down in his seat and lowered his head onto his arms which were crossed on the table. Of course his friends noticed his sudden decrease in mood.

"What wrong?" Felix asked.

Jisung groaned in response.

"Uh..." Felix looked at his other two friends for some help.

"What did you do after me and Felix left for lunch?" Seungmin questioned.

Jisung stayed silent. He didn't feel like talking about it right now. He just wanted to go home and sleep to forget what just happened.

Seungmin, Felix and Jeongin all looked at each other. Not knowing what to do with their slumped friend.

"Jisung tell us what happened now." Seungmin demanded.

"I don't want to talk about it." Jisung muttered.

"Can you at least tell us where you were?" It was Jeongin's voice asking so sweetly.

Jisung groaned because he couldn't say no to cute little Jeongin, especially when he asked so nicely.

"I stayed in the classroom to say thank you to Minho." Jisung still didn't lift his head up from the table.

The other three all looked at each other with concerned looks.

"Di-did he hit you?" Jeongin asked nervously.

"Is that why you're hiding your face? He hit you didn't he?" Seungmin said furiously.

Jisung lifted his head. "Chill. No he didn't hit me."

"Then what happened. Why are you suddenly acting so down?"

Jisung sighed and explained to his friends what happened in the classroom between him and Minho. The boys weren't surprised with the way Minho reacted. Jeongin was a little disappointed.

"Maybe he isn't changing for the best."

"He's been like this since the beginning of high school. Why do you suddenly want him to change so bad?" Felix wondered.

"Because I don't like hearing stories about you being scared since you sit next to them. It gets annoying. If he changes then you will be able to relax near them and I don't have to hear more of your complaining." He acted like he was drained.

The three boys were taken aback. They were expecting Jeongin to say something sweet but instead they were getting called out.

"Pfft, I'm aren't scared of them. I'm so comfortable around them." Jisung tried to convince himself.

"Then why are you being so sulky right now?"

"I'm not being sulky. I'm just embarrassed and confused about what happened." Jisung groaned.

The bell started ringing. The boys got up and went to their classes.

Jisung sat down at his desk and glanced at the door every time someone came in. He was waiting for someone specific to walk in. He himself didn't know who he was waiting for until he saw Changbin and Hyunjin walk in without Minho. He felt himself deflate.

_Stop. I'm not disappointed. I'm glad he's not here. I don't have a chance to embarrass myself again. He was being a dick anyways. _Jisung thought to himself.

The teacher walked in saying "Get your notebooks out for science."

Science was fun like usual. They had a lab today about saponification. They basically made soap. At the end of science Minho entered the room and Jisung's anxiety levels went through the roof.

Next subject: Korean.

"Ok students, I've noticed that a bunch of you guys don't know the other students in this class very well so I've decided to assign a project." Mr. Park announced making all the students groan.

"You will need a partner and you have to get to know them. How you will do this is, you and your partner will have to spend a day together and answer a series of questions. Then you'll turn in your papers with the answered questions on Monday." The teacher explained.

Jisung raised his hand.

"Ah yes, Jisung."

"Do we get to choose our partners or are they assigned?"

"I have already chosen your partners for you." The students groaned even more.

The teacher started calling out the pairs he assigned. Jisung didn't pay attention until he heard his name.

"Han Jisung and Kim Seungmin."

'Hm? Aren't we supposed to be paired with people we don't know??' Jisung was confused.

"Hwang Hyunjin and Lee Minho." The teacher continued.

_Is the teacher an idiot? He obviously knows that me and Seungmin are best friends and that Hyunjin and Minho are best friends. This defeats the whole purpose of this project? What is he thinking? He might as well add Felix in my group._

That's when Jisung realized, _Wait... Only two people are left. Nah, there's no way. That would mean-_

"Lee Felix and Seo Changbin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> sorry if this chapter seems really rushed or if there are mistakes. i didn’t edit it.
> 
> ooooo we're finally getting some interaction between the two friend groups. (other than jisung and minho) it only took nine chapters-
> 
> am i dragging this story out? ahdgsh maybe i am. dw the chapters after this one will move somewhat faster.
> 
> what will happen between felix and changbin?? 
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- he winks at who ???  
\- they swap phone numbers ???  
\- seungmin's gonna get his ass bEAT


	11. t e n .

_That's when Jisung realized, Wait... Only two people are left. No. There's no way. That means-_

_"Lee Felix and Seo Changbin."_

Jisung quickly looked over to his left at Felix with his mouth opened in surprise. Saying that the latter did not look good was an understatement. His face was pale, his mouth was open and his eyes were as wide as they have ever been. The poor guy fixed his vision on the teacher hoping the teacher would announce that he's made a mistake. It had to be one. But when Felix realized the teacher looked satisfied with his pairings his eyes turned blank. He didn't know what to think.

Jisung felt so bad for the boy next to him.

Hyunjin, on the other hand, looked over at his friend amused and Changbin could feel his stare but he didn't want to look at him. Changbin had an unreadable expression displayed on his face, he expected something like this to happen but he was still hoping it wouldn't. Ultimately he just sighed and Hyunjin stifled a laugh at the shorter boy. Changbin immediately snapped his neck towards Hyunjin and glared at him. The taller male gave his friend a mocking smile and turned his head back to the teacher.

"Those are your partners. No I will not change them so don't ask for that. This project is due on Monday so you have the rest of this week and the weekend to spend a day with your partner to get to know them or however you want to do it." Mr. Park continued onto the book they were reading for homework.

-

Finally the bell rung and the school day was over. Everyone got up and started packing their stuff. Felix was taking his sweet time, his mind was too busy thinking about how screwed he was and by the time he was done packing, all of the kids already left the classroom. As Felix picked up his notebooks, he could feel Jisung and Seungmin's eyes burning holes into the back of his head.

"I don't want to talk about it." Felix stated not looking at them as he walked out the classroom. Jisung looked at Seungmin before he ran to catch up with Felix, Seungmin being close behind.

"Yeah well I didn't want to talk about those times where I interacted with Minho but you bitches made me so now it's your turn." Jisung sassed once him and Seungmin caught up with Felix.

They arrived at their lockers where Jeongin was waiting for them. "There is nothing to talk about." Felix denied.

"Nothing to talk about what?" Jeongin asked.

"Nothing." Felix mumbled as he opened his locker.

Jeongin looked at Jisung and Seungmin, raising his eyebrows.

"We have a new project in Korean and guess who Felix is partners with." Jisung said as he opened up his locker.

Jeongin thought for a second, "San?"

Felix scoffed as he shoved a notebook in his backpack. "I wish."

Jeongin gasped, "Minho??"

"Nope but close." Seungmin closed his locker and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Changbin?"

When Jeongin said his name Felix groaned. From the latter's reaction, the younger knew he had guessed correctly.

"You're partners with Changbin? Oh gosh what're you gonna do?"

Felix closed his locker and hit his head against it. "I don't know. I don't want to talk to him or hang out with him for a day. I have to get to know him too. What am I supposed to-"

"Felix shut up." Seungmin whispered quickly.

Felix lifted his head from the locker and glared at Seungmin. Jisung and Seungmin's eyes were fixated on something behind Felix. "What are you looking at?"

Felix turned around and his mouth went dry. Stray Kids were walking down the hall. The crowded hallways immediately split in half so the gang could walk through it without getting pushed by people. Everyone stared in awe when the five boys walked past them. It felt like a movie.

Felix immediately turned around when he saw them. "Hide me Jisung. Hide me now." Felix whispered.

Jisung looked at Felix with furrowed eyebrows. "What why?"

Seungmin and Jeongin heard the conversation and looked at Felix with confusion engraved on their face.

"Because I really don't want to look at Changbin and I don't want him to see me. Why the hell are they even walking this hall? They never do."

Felix then heard everyone whispering. The latter relaxed his shoulders not realizing it was tense in the first place. He figured that the reason for the whispers was because Stray Kids had finally left the building.

"Felix." The mentioned boy heard a familiar voice say behind him. The whispering stopped when the person spoke.

A cold shiver traveled down Felix's body as he tensed up again when he heard his name roll off his tongue. He knew exactly why all the students were whispering because he knew who the voice belonged to and Felix did not want to turn around and face him. But he also didn't want to make the other mad so he slowly turned around and froze. That's when Felix knew his instinct was correct. There, in front of him, stood Changbin and the rest of Stray Kids. Felix noticed Yedam was also standing there next to his brother.

_This has got to be a dream. Or a nightmare._ Felix thought to himself.

Jeongin saw that Yedam was standing next to Chan. The boy took this time to admire how beautiful Yedam looked, but then again, Jeongin thought Yedam looked beautiful everyday. In class Jeongin sat in the front of the room while Yedam sat in the back so the poor boy isn't able to admire his crush's beauty everyday. Jeongin didn't realize he was staring until Yedam turned his head and made eye contact with him.

Yedam smiled at Jeongin and the older felt his heart jump at the smile and he quickly returned the smile. Soon Jeongin felt his cheeks start to get hot, so he quickly looked away before his cheeks could heat up any more and embarrass himself in front of Yedam again.

Changbin noticed the confused and surprised look on Felix's face. "Since we're forced to work on this Korean project together, I need your phone number so I can text you what days we're working gonna work on this project." Changbin said lazily handing Felix his phone.

"O-ok." Felix grabbed Changbin's phone, adding his phone number.

Jisung glanced at Minho who was standing next to Hyunjin. Minho felt the other's gaze on him so he averted his eyes to the shorter. They made eye contact for a split second before Jisung quickly looked away and focused on something else. Minho rolled his eyes, annoyed from wasting his time to look at Jisung.

Seungmin also felt someone's stare on him. He looked around and his eyes finally made contact with Hyunjin. Hyunjin gave Seungmin a quick wink before he turned to talk to the leader of Stray Kids who was holding hands with Woojin. The wink made Seungmin feel like gagging. How dare he wink his disgusting eye at him? Who does he think he is? The audacity is unreal. Seungmin scoffed and rolled his eyes

Felix gave the phone back to the shorter and avoided eye contact. Changbin grabbed his phone from Felix and walked away, not saying another word to the boy.

Stray Kids followed after Changbin. Once they were out of the school, everyone nudged Changbin around, teasing him for getting someone's number. Changbin rolled his eyes and ignored them as he walked to the car.

The hallway went back to whispering. Everyone's eyes was fixated on Felix as they covered their mouths while they mumbled to their friends. Some of the bold students would point to Felix every once in a while. Half of them were jealous at the fact that he's partners with Changbin and that he has Changbin's phone number. The other half were confused at why Changbin would even want Felix's phone number.

Jisung noticed how uncomfortable Felix was feeling being the center of attention so he grabbed his friend's hand and quickly dragged him out of the school building. Seungmin and Jeongin staying close behind.

Once they were outside Felix let out a breathe he didn't even now he was holding in. "Oh my god everyone's going to hate me now." Felix groaned.

"What're you talking about?" Jeongin was confused.

"Literally everyone knows that I have Changbin's phone number and now they're gonna treat me like absolute trash." 

"What why?" The youngest still did not understand.

"Because they're all crazy and obsessed with Stray Kids and if someone gets any bit of their attention then the obsessive people get jealous and do crazy things."

Jisung gave Felix a sympathetic look. He wanted to say something along the lines of 'oh you're wrong Felix. You'll be fine' but Jisung would be lying through his teeth and everyone would know.

Stray Kids are treated like celebrities at their school. Which confused Jisung and his friends because who would want to idolize a gang that everyone was afraid of? Stray Kids obviously scared everyone to hell but people still couldn't help but be attracted towards them.

Everyone except Jeongin, Seungmin, Jisung, and Felix of course...

"Well fuck those people. If anyone touches you I'm not gonna hesitate to stomp their asses to the depths of hell." Seungmin replied.

Felix laughed at that. He leaned his head on Seungmin's shoulder, "Thanks minnie."

"I'll help Seungmin." Jisung patted Felix's back.

"Me too." Jeongin agreed.

Everyone looked at Jeongin and snorted.

"Stop laughing. I can be tough too." Jeongin pouted.

"Yeah, ok." Felix pulled Jeongin into a head lock and ruffled the younger's hair.

Jeongin quickly pulled away from Felix's grip and huffed. They all started to walk home.

"What about you two?" Jeongin looked at Seungmin and Jisung, "Who are your partners?"

Seungmin and Jisung pointed at each other.

"Why would your teacher partner you guys up? You already know each other."

They both shrugged.

Jeongin turned to Felix, "Wow. The world must really hate you."

Felix shoved Jeongin.

-

**A few days later**

It was Thursday night. Felix still hadn't gotten a text from Changbin. He hasn't talked to him since the whole hallway scene, which Felix was perfectly fine with. He was complaining but he was confused as to what's going to happen with the project.

Felix has been getting a bunch of glares while walking down the hall and when he's in the cafeteria or in class. Nothing too serious though which Felix was thankful for. He could deal with a few glares. Seungmin was more affected by it, as he was ready to snap at everyone but Felix stopped him before he could say anything.

The latter was sort of worried that Changbin had forgot about this whole project. He honestly wouldn't have been surprised if the raven haired boy did forget. The three gang members in his class were notorious for not doing their homework ever so Felix had a feeling since the beginning that he would've had to make up some stuff and do the whole project by himself.

The smart boy actually preferred that option a little more. It would save him from the constant fear and the nerves that would flow through his body every second of the time he had to spend together with Changbin.

Felix wouldn't have to talk to Changbin. He wouldn't have any risk of pissing off the other person. He wouldn't have any risk of embarrassing himself in front of the shorter boy. And lastly he would have no risk of having the whole school hate him for spending time with Changbin. It just seemed like a win win situation.

Felix was doing his science homework when he heard his phone buzz. Predicting that it was his friend texting him, the latter ignored it and continued with his homework before it buzzed again. Finally Felix decided to look at who was messaging him.

**Unknown**  
we're spending the day together on saturday.  
if you're busy on saturday then that sucks   
because i'm busy every other day.  
we can fill out the questions on saturday too.   
you choose where we hang out  
it's changbin by the way

Felix had to reread that text message a couple of times before it finally registered in his brain that Changbin actually took the time to text him. _Changbin actually wants to work on this project with me? I don't think he has actually ever cared enough to do projects or homework assignments so this is a first. Why is he all of a sudden wanting to do this? Why's he letting me choose where to go?_ All these questions lingered in Felix's mind.

Felix focused back on the text message he got from the gang member. He was actually busy on Saturday but he could easily cancel. It was just a movie night with his friends. They'll understand why Felix canceled on them. The latter was too scared to see what would happen if he told Changbin that he couldn't do Saturday.

**felix**  
i'm free on saturday. let's   
meet up at rock cafe

Felix anxiously waited for the other to reply to the message. Why was he so nervous? Other than the fact that he was texting someone from a gang, he didn't know. A couple of minutes later, Felix's phone went off.

**a nightmare**  
ok  
meet you at 1:30

**felix**  
sounds good

Felix quickly messaged his friends before he would forget.

**felix**  
im gonna have to cancel   
on saturday

**dog**

what why

**squirrel**

bro you can't just cancel

on us like that. it's movie

night

**fox**

^^

**felix**  
trust me. i'd much rather watch  
movies with you guys but changbin  
finally texted me and told me that we  
had to hang out on sat bc he's busy   
any other day and i'm not tryna find out  
what will happen if i tell him i can't

**dog**  
oh geez  
that really sucks

**fox**  
don't die hyung!

**squirrel**   
good luck buddy

**felix**  
you three are the worst  
never am i ever coming   
to you guys for comfort   
in the future ever again

**squirrel**   
we're kidding~  
you'll be fine. just don't   
say anything stupid

**dog**  
that is absolutely impossible  
and you know it

**squirrel**   
yeah well hopefully felix is smart  
enough to realize he's hanging  
with a gang member and will  
think before he says stupid shit

**fox**  
yeah hes definitely gonna  
saysomething dumb

**felix**  
i'm in this chat you know

**squirrel**   
that's the point

**fox**  
that's the point

**dog**  
that's the point

**felix**  
you three are dead to me

-

**Saturday**

Jisung woke up to a nice cold splash in the face. He quickly sat up on his bed gasping. While wiping his face he heard the laughter from a boy he knew all too well.

"What the hell Seungmin, what are you doing here?"

"We're supposed to spend the day together for Korean. Duh." Seungmin smiled.

"We already know everything about each other. We don't have to spend a day together." Jisung glared.

Seungmin gasped dramatically, placing his hand over his heart "You don't want to spend a day with me?"

Jisung rolled his eyes and fell back into his now damp bed. "No, not really. Can you leave now?"

Seungmin smirked, "Fine." Then he left the room.

Jisung ignored the smirk and sighed, "Finally." He snuggled back into the side of his bed that wasn't wet and closed his eyes.

Right when Jisung drifted off back to sleep, he was woken up by a cold splash again.

"Get up." Seungmin said bored.

"Ugh! Ok fine." Jisung sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes awake. "What time is it?"

"12:15."

Hearing that made Jisung jump out of his bed. "Oh my god how did I sleep in so late?"

Seungmin rolled his eyes "It's not even that late. Remember when Felix woke up at 2 pm everyday during the Summer."

Jisung snorted at the recent memory. "Anyways, what do you have planned for us to do."

"I thought you had a plan." Seungmin looked genuinely confused.

Jisung gave him a look that said _'is this bitch serious?'_

"I didn't even know we were hanging out the whole day today, how would I have a plan?" Jisung said through his teeth

Seungmin let out a laugh, "I'm just kidding. Of course I have a plan. No need to be so serious." He punched Jisung's shoulder.

Jisung sighed as he went into his bathroom to get ready. When he walked out of his bathroom he saw Jeongin sitting on his bed too.

"Oh hey Innie." Jisung greeted.

"Hey hyung." Jeongin waved.

"Ok let's go." Seungmin stood up from the bed.

"Where are we exactly going?" Jisung questioned.

"We're going to Rock Cafe of course. I haven't been in forever and I'm craving some of their cheesecakes."

Jisung's ears popped up when he heard cheesecake. "Well let's go. I want some cheesecake."

Jisung hurried the two out of his house, eager to eat some of this delicious cheesecake. The walk there wasn't quiet. Jisung and Jeongin were being loud as usual while Seungmin slowly started regretting his decision to hang out with these two monkeys. Finally they arrived at the cafe and Seungmin's never been so thankful. The inside was very neat and minimalistic. The color of the walls were white but the green plants and succulents decorated the bright cafe.

The three walked right up to the counter to order their food and drinks. While they were waiting for their drinks to be made, the three sat at a table near the cashier to eat their cheesecake.

"Order number 19." The cashier said.

Jisung went up and grabbed the drinks. When he was walking to his table he saw something that made him almost drop all the drinks. He quickly set the drinks down on the table and sat down. "Jeongin stand over there. I need to check if my eyes are failing me."

"What are you talking about?" Seungmin asked.

"Don't look now but I'm pretty sure Felix is here with Changbin and they're sitting on the other side of the cafe."

Seungmin and Jeongin immediately whip their heads around to find Felix.

Jisung face palmed, "I just said not to look?"

Sure enough, Felix was there on the other side of the cafe sitting with Changbin. Changbin's back was towards the three boys while Felix was sitting across Changbin. Felix seemed to be eating a cheesecake. Changbin on the other hand just had a drink.

"Oh my god. Why are they here?" Jeongin asked in shock.

"I don't know, maybe to get to know each other." Seungmin answered sarcastically.

"Do you think they're sharing that cheesecake?" Jisung smirked.

"As if. Felix is too much of a pussy to do that." Seungmin snorted.

"It looks like they're on a date." Jeongin whispered.

"Felix looks relaxed. Changbin seems interested with whatever Felix is saying. I'm guessing they're actually having a decent conversation with each other." Jisung observed.

"Ok we should probably go before Felix notices." Seungmin suggested. They all cleaned up their mess and took their drinks with them to the door but Seungmin stopped all of a sudden

"Hold up." Seungmin took out his phone and took a picture of Felix and Changbin. He quickly texted the picture to their friend group chat.

**seungmin**  
[image attached]  
having fun on your date?

Jisung and Jeongin both laughed at the message. Then they heard Felix's phone go off, signaling that he got the message. They intensely watched Felix as he looked away from Changbin to look at the message in his phone.

When he finally unlocked his phone and saw the message and picture, he choked on his drink. He looked around the cafe for his friends and his eyes landed on three boys who were laughing hysterically. Felix gave them a hard glare which made Changbin curious at what or who he was looking at.

Jisung saw Changbin turning around in his chair. "That's our cue to leave. Go go go before he sees us!" Jisung quickly pushed the other two out the door before Felix or Changbin could yell at them or something.

As they were walking home, Seungmin said in between laughs, "Oh my god did you see his face?"

"That was the funniest thing ever." Jeongin held onto his sore stomach from laughing so much.

"He's definitely going to kill us later but it was worth it." Jisung commented.

As if on cue Seungmin got a message from Felix saying "i'm gonna beat your ass." They all laughed even harder.

The three boys arrived back at Jisung's home and hung out for a few hours. It was now 7 pm and they all decided to watch movies.

"I wonder how Felix hyung is doing." Jeongin wondered.

"I wonder how his day went." Jisung questioned.

"We should invite him over tomorrow so he can explain." Seungmin suggested.

Jisung got out his phone and messaged Felix.

**jisung**  
come over tmrw.   
i wanna know what   
happened between you  
and changbin today.

**yongyongbokie**   
okee  
i'll come over   
at 1

"He's coming over at 1 tomorrow to tell us what happened." Jisung announced.

"He better." Seungmin said.

The three ended up watching three movies before passing out on the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:  
sorry this update is like a day late but this chapter took me forever to write idk why.
> 
> yes i know you guys want to know what happened with felix and changbin. you'll find out next chapter.
> 
> also i know that this is a minsung fanfic. dw you'll get your minsung action soon. i just want to include a short storyline for changlix and i'll create one for seungjin jeongdam and maybe woochan. but dont worry this book will be mostly minsung. ik right now it doesn't seem like it but just trust me.
> 
> anyways it's 12 am and i have school in about 7 hours so gn :)
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- it's felix's hang out with changbin lol


	12. e l e v e n .

** _Jisung_ **   
_come over tmrw. _   
_i wanna know what _   
_happened between you_   
_and changbin today._

** _Felix_ **   
_okee_   
_i'll come over _   
_at 1_

...

Jisung woke up from an aggressive knock on his front door. He lazily sat up on the couch he slept on, looking around the living room as his eyes landed on Seungmin and Jeongin passed out on the floor. Jisung lightly laughed at the sight.

The person at his door knocked eagerly again, bringing the drowsy male back to reality. Jisung looked at the time. _11:30 A.M_. It couldn't have been Felix at his door. It was too early. So who was it? Jisung got up from the couch and slugged over to his door and slowly opened it.

"Felix? What're you doing here? It's 11." Jisung asked confused.

"Wow good morning to you too Jisung." Felix acted hurt.

"Yeah yeah." Jisung walked back to the couch leaving the door open for Felix. He joined Jisung on the couch, careful not to step on his two other friends on the floor.

"I thought you were coming at 1." Jisung grumbled.

Felix rolled his eyes, "Stop acting like you don't want me here."

His friend scoffed "I'm not acting. I'd much rather be sleeping."

Felix ignored his comment. "I have plans later."

Jisung raised his eyebrows, "Plans? With who?"

Felix turned a light shade of pink.

Jisung was fully awake now and gasped, "Don't tell me it's who I think it is. Don't you dare tell me we're already getting replaced by someone you hung out with for a singular day."

Felix slapped Jisung's arm. "No one can replace you or those two trolls sleeping on the floor."

"You didn't deny who it was though. You're seriously going to hang out with someone from Stray Kids voluntarily? Are you out of your mind? Felix, it's not safe to hang with someone like him and you know that." Jisung scolded his friend.

Felix sighed, "Can you just listen to the story?"

Jisung nodded, "Ok fine, but only because I'm dying to know what happened." He suddenly thought of something, "Just wait."

Jisung got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen. He grabbed a cup from the cupboard and filled it with cold water. He walked back to the couch and leaned over Seungmin. He poured the cold water onto his face causing Seungmin to jolt up from the floor, screaming. Jisung and Felix laughed hysterically at the younger's priceless reaction. The ruckus woke Jeongin up from his slumber. He woke up confused as to why there was so much noise. Seungmin whipped his head to the guy who had the cup in his hands and glared.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Seungmin seethed.

"Hey! It was payback from yesterday." Jisung shrugged.

Seungmin rolled his eyes and went to the bathroom to dry his face. He came back and Jeongin was sitting up from his previous laying position. That was when he realized there was another figure on the couch.

"Oh hey Felix. I didn't even realize you were here." Seungmin greeted.

"Do I just not matter to you guys?" Felix looked offended.

"No, your story about what happened yesterday matters more so spill." Jeongin half joked.

"Fine, since you guys wanna know so bad, I'm gonna start from the very beginning."

"Don't miss any detail." Jisung reminded.

"Ok well I woke up at 11 to get ready for the day..."

-

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

Felix groaned at the loud alarm. It took all his will power not to turn the alarm off and go back to sleep. Today was the day he was going to hang out with Changbin and he already dreaded everything. He slugged his way out of his bed and to his bathroom. The latter took a shower and got ready. He wore a simple outfit, black ripped jeans and a white shirt.

Felix checked the time. _12:30 P.M._ He headed out the door and started walking to the cafe. Every step he took towards his destination made his anxiety levels go up a little higher. His hands started get clammy, his breathing increased. It was almost as if he ran a mile. Finally the nervous male arrived at the cafe. The inside was really nice and simple which made Felix smile and forget about Changbin for a second. The boy looked around checking to see if Changbin had arrived yet. Luckily he was no where to be seen. Felix quickly walked to an empty table and contemplated whether or not to order his drink or to wait for Changbin. Ultimately he decided to just wait for the raven haired boy.

_Should I text him telling him I'm here? Would I be annoying him? Probably..._ Instead of texting him, Felix scrolled through his phone. _12:55 P.M._

After some time he heard the bell on the door ring, indicating that someone either left or entered the cafe. This made Felix's anxiety levels shoot like a rocket. He didn't look up. He didn't want to. He had a feeling that it was Changbin who walked inside and Felix didn't want to make eye contact with him.

Felix acted like he was looking at something interesting on his phone when in reality his phone was off and he was shitting bricks. In the corner of his eye he could see a figure walking towards him which only made him sweat more.

"Felix?" The mentioned boy heard someone say.

Felix looked up from his phone and saw Changbin standing in front of him. Felix's surprised expression wasn't fake, even though he knew it was Changbin who called his name, he didn't think the raven haired male would look this good. He was wearing all black. How surprising. The latter was wearing a beanie and a chain necklace.

_Wait what? Changbin is a literal animal why do I care if he looks good or not._ Felix thought to himself.

Felix tried to sound confident but failed as he stuttered "O-Oh hey Changbin." He gave a small smile that didn't show any teeth to try to cover his embarrassing stutter.

Changbin sat down in front of Felix, "How long were you waiting?"

"U-uh not that long, like ten minutes?" Felix lied. It was definitely longer than ten minutes.

"Ten minutes? Oh god you should've texted me, I would've came sooner."

That surprised Felix, "I-I didn't want to annoy you or rush you. Plus I was fine waiting."

Changbin looked at the table and noticed that Felix hadn't ordered anything, "Are you not getting anything?"

"I-I wanted to wait for you first."

"You only waited for me so you could get me to pay for your order, right?" Changbin raised an eyebrow.

Felix's eyes widened at the accusation. "N-no! T-that idea didn't even cross my mind! I swear. I was just waiting because I-I didn't know if you would get mad at me for not waiting for you." His voice slowly gave out at the end and he then looked down and played with his fingers, not wanting to make eye contact with the person in front of him.

Changbin let out a little laugh, "I'm just kidding Felix. Lighten up, no need to be so scared of me."

"But you kill people for living." Felix mumbled under his breath, but Changbin still heard what was said.

"You may think you know what me and the gang do, but you don't. Not even half of it. So stop talking to me like you know everything." Changbin snapped making Felix flinch. "Don't believe every rumor you hear."

_It's hard not to when they seem true._

"I-I'm sorry." Felix said barely above a whisper.

"Let's order stuff." Changbin grabs Felix's wrist which was rested on the table and pulled him towards the cashier.

"Hey what would you like today?" The cashier didn't take her eyes off of Changbin for one second which made Felix silently roll his eyes.

_She's probably new around here._

"Can I get an iced americano?" Changbin ordered.

"Yes of course." The cashier replied.

"Can I get a strawberry cheesecake and an iced salted caramel mocha."

"Sure." The cashier showed no interest in Felix.

"That'll be 15,000 won."

Felix reached into his front pocket to pull out his wallet but Changbin handed his card to the cashier faster than Felix could even fully pull out his wallet from his front pocket.

Felix protested but Changbin didn't care. "I'll pay since you had to wait for me."

Felix really didn't feel like arguing with him for obvious reasons so he just said, "Okay."

They sat back down at the table with the cheesecake in silence.

"How about this, why don't you tell me all the rumors you hear about me and my friends and I'll tell you which ones are true or not." Changbin suggested randomly.

Felix raised his eyebrows, "W-we're supposed to be working on our Korean project though."

"I mean you're getting to know me better so technically we are."

Felix couldn't believe the words that was coming out of Changbin's mouth and into Felix's ears. "W-why are you acting like this all of a sudden?" Felix couldn't help but wonder out loud.

Changbin's face turned to confusion, "Like what?"

"Y-you snapped at me a few minutes ago and now you're actually being nice." Felix looked at his fork which was stabbing into the cheesecake.

Changbin frowned, "You stutter every time you say something. Are you that scared of me?"

Felix didn't say anything, afraid that he would stutter again and make the person in front of him angry.

_I usually never care if someone's afraid of me cause they should be. But why do I care if Felix is scared of me? Why do I want to prove him wrong?_ Changbin thought to himself.

"Order 10!" The cashier called out.

"I-I'll get it." Felix quickly got up from his chair and walked over to the cashier. He wanted to get out of that conversation. He thanked the cashier and brought the drinks to the table. They sat in silence again.

Noticing the younger wasn't going to say anything Changbin spoke, "I'm not always mean Felix. You don't have to be scared of me."

"Yes you are, you're in a.. a..." Felix started quietly, not wanting to finish that sentence. He suddenly became very interested in the cheesecake he was eating.

"A gang? Yes I am, but we aren't like as bad as everyone thinks."

"Y-you're the most powerful, dangerous, and feared gang." Felix said not convinced.

Changbin sighed, "Yeah we have that reputation but we aren't dangerous to a normal human being. We have good reasons for doing what we do. We don't just hurt random innocent people."

"Y-you guys are always coming to school late with all these bruised and scraped knuckles."

"Because there's a lot of people that are dicks." Changbin shrugged as if it was nothing. "Let me ask you a question Felix."

Felix let out a quiet "Ok." Nervous of what was going to be asked

"You've looked at me maybe twice. You stutter every time you talk and you're talking really quiet. Why? And don't give me a crappy excuse, tell me the truth."

Felix was taken a back, He looked at Changbin with a surprised expression, he didn't think he was going to get called out like that. Felix looked back down, he didn't want to tell Changbin the truth. He didn't want to expose himself but he didn't really have a choice. Felix felt like Changbin would see right through him if he lied and he was terrified to think about what would happen if Changbin realized Felix lied. "I-I'm scared. Ok? I-I'm scared I'm gonna say the wrong thing to you and y-you're just gonna get angry and hurt me or something. I-I'm scared to look at you."

It was Changbin's turn to be shocked. He didn't know why he was shocked though, he didn't have a reason to be. He knew he had this impression on everyone at school. He knew everyone was afraid of him. He knew he was intimidating. Changbin knew all these but he never cared. He never did anything to change their mind about him. But seeing it first hand from Felix just took a toll on him and he didn't know what to say or why it was affecting him.

"Like I said before, there's no reason to be scared of me. Yes I may have a reputation but I promise I'm not going to hurt you Felix. Trust me, you're not going to say anything that'll make me angry. You don't have to stutter or look down." Changbin reassured.

"B-but you're so rude at school. You throw punches for the smallest things." Felix spoke again.

"That's Minho. He has his own reasons for that. Me and the rest of the gang just get irritated easily and we don't like to deal with people's bullshit. We don't actually punch someone unless they get on our nerves." Changbin explained. "We may seem intimidating but we aren't rude unless we have to be. Except Minho obviously."

"Y-you sounded so rude in our text messages though."

Changbin was not expecting that. "I was not. I even let you choose where we were going."

"Y-you were demanding."

"That's just they way I am. If you're in a gang you have to sound demanding."

"H-how do I know you're not lying to me?" Felix questioned, finally looking at Changbin.

"Why would I waste my time lying to you? I could care less if anyone believed those rumors."

"...Then w-why do you care if I believed them?"

Changbin thought for a moment, "I, don't know."

This confused Felix but it also calmed him down. He felt less scared of Changbin and felt a little more comfortable around him. Now that he's heard Changbin's side of all these rumors and stories he realized Stray Kids weren't as bad as he thought. Of course Felix still kept in mind that they were a gang but he came to the conclusion that Changbin wasn't a threat to him. At least not yet.

"Why are you doing this project with me?" Felix asked before he could stop himself.

"Uh, cause I have to?" Changbin answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's never stopped you before. You never do your school work. I-I was expecting to lie and do this whole thing by myself." Felix told truthfully.

"Well I didn't want you to write the wrong information about me so that's why I'm here."

Felix was about to say something but was cut off by his phone buzzing. He looked down and saw that Seungmin had sent two messages. An image and a message saying "having fun on your date?". Taking a sip from his drink, Felix quickly unlocked his phone and clicked on the message, confused.

It was a picture taken from behind Changbin of Felix looking at him. Felix choked on his drink and immediately looked around the cafe.

Changbin became very confused at what the other was doing and asked "What are you doing?"

Felix heard laughing coming from the door and his eyes met with his three friends. He sent a hard glare at them which only made them laugh even more.

Changbin, still confused, asked "Who are you glaring at?" He turned around and saw three people half way out the door. Felix sighed, texting Seungmin back.

"Uh, who were they?" Changbin asked for the third time.

"They're just my dumbass friends." Felix replied.

"You glare at all your friends like that?"

"Only if they text me something that's worth a glare."

"What'd they text you?"

Felix widened his eyes. He didn't want Changbin to see the message. That's embarrassing. "I-It's nothing special." He tried to sound stern with his answer but failed miserably.

Changbin snorted. He quickly reached over and took Felix's phone from him which was thankfully still unlocked. He looked at the image and the message and laughed.

"I-I swear I didn't tell them or anyone where I was going or that this was a date." Felix immediately cleared things up.

"I mean, I guess this is kinda a date." Changbin shrugged, handing Felix his phone back.

Felix's mouth fell open. _Did I just hear that correctly?_

Changbin laughed at his reaction, "I'm just messing with you Felix. Come on, let's go." The raven haired male stood up.

"What, where are we going?" Felix quickly stood up and followed him outside.

"Well we have to spend the day together and I don't want to stay at the cafe for the whole day, so let's go somewhere." Changbin explained.

"Somewhere where?"

"That's a surprise." Changbin winked at Felix and the younger immediately felt his cheeks heat up.

When they arrived to Changbin's car, Felix became very cautious. He didn't know if Changbin was going to take him somewhere to kill him. Or take him to his gang headquarters and kill him. The paranoid male was very hesitant to get in the car. Changbin opened the driver door and was about to get in when he noticed the other male's hesitation.

"We're just going to the beach. I'm not going to do anything to you Felix. I would never." Then he sat down in the drivers seat and closed the door. Felix took a deep breath then opened the passenger side door and climbed in.

The car ride started off silent. No one was talking. Changbin was too focused on driving and Felix didn't want to disrupt him but the silence didn't last long. Felix couldn't stand it, "Why are we going to the beach?"

"Because I like the beach. It's calming. We're just gonna walk around." Changbin didn't take his eyes off the road.

Silence again.

"Can we listen to music? This silence is killing me." Felix asked.

Changbin chuckled, "Sure. Turn on your bluetooth and connect to my car."

Felix did what he was instructed to do. He put his playlist on shuffle and a random song came on. Felix started to sing along to it quietly. Changbin heard him singing and smiled.

"You're actually a good singer." Changbin complimented.

Felix immediately shut up and blushed. "T-thanks."

Changbin laughed at Felix's flustered self.

They finally arrived at the beach. Changbin and Felix got out of the car and walked to the sand. There wasn't a lot people there, maybe like nine families.

They were walking on the sand when Felix thought of an idea, "Let's play 20 questions."

Changbin looked at Felix and raised an eyebrow. "How original. Okay, you first."

"Ummm, what do you do in your free time?"

Changbin thought for a moment, "I never really do anything other than gang stuff. If I'm not busy with the gang then I'm hanging out with Chan, Woojin, Hyunjin, and Minho."

"Your turn." Felix said.

"What're your hobbies?"

"I like soccer and drawing but I never really have time to do any of them since I'm so busy with school work."

Changbin looked at the other in surprise. "You don't seem like the type of person who would be interested in any of those things."

Felix scoffed, "I'll have you know that I'm great at drawing and playing soccer."

Changbin smiled, "Maybe one day you can draw me."

Before Felix could process what was said to him, Changbin said "Your turn."

Felix thought for a second, "How'd you get into the whole gang thing?"

Changbin's eyes darkened at the topic. Felix noticed and panicked. "Y-you don't have to answer that question if you're not comfortable with it. I can just ask some-"

"I was fighting on the streets when I met Chan. He brought me to his house and I met his dad. His dad asked me to be apart of his gang and I agreed." Changbin cut him off.

Felix could tell from Changbin's tone of voice and the look in his eyes that he wasn't telling the whole truth, but Felix didn't push Changbin to tell him more.

"Do you have any siblings?" Changbin asked.

"I have a little sister who's annoying but I still love her to death." Felix smiled. "Cats or dogs?"

"Dogs. Definitely dogs." Changbin answered immediately.

Felix stopped walking and looked at Changbin. "Are you kidding? Cats are where it's at."

The gang member shook his head, "Uh oh, this might be where our friendship ends Felix. Dogs are better." Changbin laughed.

Felix was shocked at what Changbin just said. _Friends? He just said friends right?_

"But it makes sense that you like cats." Changbin continued.

Felix raised an eyebrow, "Why's that?"

"Because you look like one."

Felix jaw dropped. Changbin laughed at his reaction, "What? You do! You can't tell me you don't."

"Whatever." Felix secretly smiled.

"Who were the people at the cafe?"

"Jisung, Seungmin, and Jeongin. They're a pain in my ass but I love them."

"Jisung? Minho talked about him once." Changbin said.

Felix was surprised, "He did?"

"Yeah. I forgot what he said but he's mentioned his name before." Changbin half lied. He remembered what Minho said about Jisung.

"Uh oh." Felix hoped it was something good but he knew that was very unlikely since it's Minho and from Jisung's stories, Minho doesn't seem very fond of him.

"Seungmin? Isn't that the person I sit next to?" Changbin thought out loud.

"Yep that's him." Felix answered.

"He doesn't seem like he talks a lot."

Felix snorted, "Oh he does."

"I feel like I've heard of the name Jeongin too." Changbin tried to recall.

"I mean everyone thinks he's a little baby." Felix tried to help.

"Oh!" Changbin remembered. "Yedam has talked about him before." Changbin laughed as he remembered what Yedam had said about Jeongin.

Felix eyes opened wide, "He's talked about Jeongin?" _Wait till Jeongin hears about this. He's gonna flip._

"Yep." Changbin replied.

"Interesting. Do you have any fears?" Felix asked.

Changbin gave him a weird look and Felix quickly explained, "I'm just curious if you have any fears, being in a gang in all I feel like you wouldn't but now I'm wondering."

Changbin chuckled, "Fears... Um, other than the usual fears of losing someone you love and stuff, I have a fear of heights."

Felix snorted, "That's cute." Realizing what he had said, Felix quickly changed the topic, "Your turn."

Changbin raised his eyebrows at Felix, amused at the others reaction, "Ever lived anywhere but Seoul?"

Felix nodded, "Yeah I actually grew up in Australia and moved here when I was about ten."

"Oh Australia? You should take me there one day." Changbin said casually and Felix turned red.

"Y-yeah ok." He stuttered:

The two continued to ask each other questions and they got to know each other better. It started to get late and they decided to call it a day and head home. Changbin drove to Felix's house.

"Thank you Changbin. Today was fun." Felix said when Changbin arrived at his house.

"I had fun too." Changbin said back. "We should hang out again."

Felix couldn't believe what he heard, _He wants to hang out with me again? Why?_ "Y-yeah we should."

"What about tomorrow?" Changbin suggested.

The purple haired male was taken aback. He didn't expect Changbin to want to hang out so soon. Felix thought he would give it at least a week. The latter remembered the text conversation he had with Changbin, "I thought you were busy any other day expect for today?" Felix asked confused.

Changbin shrugged, "I could make some time for you."

Felix internally screamed. "O-oh, o-okay. Uh what time?"

Changbin thought for a moment. He was calculating what time he wouldn't be busy. "Hmm how about the same time we met up today? I'll pick you up."

"Okay sure." Felix opened the door of the car and got out. "Bye Changbin." He said before he shut the door and walked inside his house.

Felix ran upstairs to his room and flopped on his bed. _What just happened?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this changlix chapter. you got to know a little more about the gang and felix.
> 
> this was hard for me to write. i didn't know how i was going to write this scene or what was going to happen in it but i think it turned out ok, hopefully.
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- poor ************* :(
> 
> ^try to decode that
> 
> hint: it's yongyongbokie


	13. t w e l v e .

After Felix had explained everything to his three friends, they sat in silence while they wrapped their minds around what was he had said.

"Wait what the fuck? I didn't expect Changbin to be like this? He was so sweet to you. Are you sure you didn't hallucinate while hanging out with him?" Seungmin was the first to talk.

Felix slapped Seungmin's arm, "No I didn't hallucinate you bafoon. I'm just as shocked as you right now."

"Maybe Jeongin is right." Jisung admitted out of nowhere.

"I'm always right but which instance are you talking about?" Jeongin replied.

Jisung rolled his eyes at the younger, "Maybe Stray Kids isn't as bad as we thought. Maybe It's just Minho."

"I told you. You guys never believe me." Jeongin huffed.

"I wonder what Minho said about Jisung." Seungmin smirked.

"Oh please don't remind me about that. He probably talked about how much he wanted to punch me." Jisung groaned.

"Or maybe he said good things about you." Jeongin suggested.

"Minho is the only person in Stray Kids who is actually rude, even Changbin said that. I doubt he said something positive about me."

"I wonder what Yedam said about Jeongin." Felix wiggled his eyebrows.

Jeongin blushed, "Stop it. He probably was just talking about how I ran into him during lunch. He was probably ranting to them."

"Or he was telling them how he thinks you're cute." Felix suggested.

"That's definitely not it." Jeongin shook his head in denial.

The purple haired male rolled his eyes. There was nothing that would convince Jeongin otherwise.

"What about you Felix." Jisung changed the subject.

Felix furrowed his eyebrows, "What about me?"

"How do you feel about Changbin?"

Everyone's eyes were focused on Felix, observing how he would react to the question. Felix's cheeks flushed, "I-w-what do you mean? I-I don't feel anything towards Changbin." Felix stuttered while he looked everywhere but at his friends.

Seungmin, Jisung, and Jeongin all looked at each other and busted out laughing.

"Bro you suck at lying." Seungmin said in between laughs.

Felix pouted. "I'm being serious."

"Yeah ok." Jeongin said unconvinced.

"We all know you like him at least a little bit." Jisung said.

"I do not! I just might enjoy being around him. He might not be too bad." Felix mumbled the last part but of course his friends heard it.

"Wow. Never did I think that Felix would fall for a gang member." Jisung said surprised.

"I never said that."

"Yeah but we all know you meant it." Seungmin snorted.

"No no no. I don't like him." Felix shook his head.

"Not yet." Jeongin teased.

Felix's phone went off. "I bet that's Changbin." Seungmin snickered with the other two friends.

Felix rolled his eyes as he looked at his phone. It was text message from Changbin saying that he was here. "That's my cue to leave." Felix said getting up.

"Wait he's here?" Jisung gasped.

"Yeah. I told him to pick me up at your house instead of mine." Felix said as if it was nothing.

"I don't know how I feel about a gang member knowing where I live." Jisung joked.

"Shut up. Minho carried you home once and he's more dangerous than Changbin." Felix snapped back which made Jisung hold up his hands in defense.

"Introduce him to us." Seungmin suggested.

"Absolutely not." Felix walked towards the door.

"Come on! We want to meet your future boyfriend." Seungmin tried to convince but the targeted boy rolled his eyes, "I thought you guys were scared of Stray Kids?"

"I was never scared of them." Seungmin scoffed.

"Ok well you're a different story. You're not normal." Felix said.

"Maybe I was but after what you said, I guess they aren't as bad as I thought. Expect for Minho and of course they're still intimidating but I'll manage." Jisung smiled.

"You guys are just gonna embarrass me in front of him."

"Of course, that's what best friends do." Jeongin smiled.

"Maybe next time. Bye guys." Felix quickly put his shoes on and ran out the door, to Changbin's car.

Jeongin, Jisung, and Seungmin opened the door wide and all waved to Felix, "Bye Felix!" "Have fun!" "Don't do anything stupid!" They all yelled out to him.

Felix just flipped them all off and climbed into Changbin's car, making everyone laugh as the car drove off.

"He definitely likes him." Jeongin said to his two friends.

"Oh yeah for sure."

"Yep no doubt."

-

At around 5 pm Jisung had gotten a FaceTime call from Felix. He accepted the call and Felix's face showed up as well as Seungmin and Jeongin's.

"Oh what's the occasion for this group FaceTime?" Jisung asked.

"Well Seungmin wanted to know what happened today with Changbin and he suggested to call everyone else so now you're here." Felix answered.

"Ok so spill."

"I mean it's nothing big. He took me to the fair and stuff." Felix said as if it was nothing.

"This was obviously a date." Seungmin said.

"It wasn't!" Felix denied.

"Oh shut up, yes it was." Jisung attacked.

"Did he win you prize?" Jeongin asked.

"Yeah he won me this cat." Felix pulled out this massive plush cat out of nowhere.

"Did he pay for everything."

"Yeah which made me feel bad. I tried to pay for my own stuff but he wouldn't let me."

"Then it was definitely a date." Jeongin, Seungmin, and Jisung all said simultaneously.

Felix rolled his eyes. "You guys are ridiculous."

But something didn't add up to Jisung, "Wait I thought he was busy today."

"That's what I thought too but he told me he could make some time for me."

Everyone opened their mouth, "Felix you can't tell me that he doesn't have some type of feelings for you." Seungmin said.

"Yes I can because he doesn't."

Jisung sighed loudly, "I can't deal with your lack of brain cells." He rubbed his temples.

"Do you have any type of feelings towards Changbin?" Jeongin said.

"I think I like him." Felix blurted out before he could stop himself.

Everyone's eyes widened and jaws dropped. Even Felix's eyes widened, he didn't expect himself to expose himself like that and he honestly didn't know what to do.

"I-I'm just kidding haha. That was a glitch. I meant to say I know I don't like him." Felix tried to cover up his truth but he knew it was too late.

"WHAT!"

"YOU'RE FINALLY ADMITTING TO IT!"

"OH MY GOD!"

Felix groaned at his loud friends. "Say it louder, why don't you? I'm pretty sure the whole country didn't hear you."

"What happened to, 'oh no I don't like him'?" Seungmin teased.

"It's just, he's so sweet. He actually seemed really interested in what I was talking about and he has a great personality. His smile is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. But at the same time he's in a gang and I don't know how to feel about that. I'm in a dilemma." Felix admitted.

"Just give it some more time. Talk to him more and maybe you'll be able to get over the fact that he's in a gang. At least he doesn't hurt random people, he hurts bad people." Jisung tried to help him out.

"I mean I guess, but how do we know that for sure? Even if it is true, he's still a... you know." Felix didn't want to say it out loud. 

"Stop thinking like that." Jeongin pouted.

"We told you you liked Changbin." Seungmin snorted.

"Wow you met him yesterday and you already like him." Jeongin teased.

"Shut up." Felix groaned.

"So what's going to happen at school tomorrow?" Seungmin asked causing Felix to give a confused expression.

"I mean are you guys gonna talk now? What's going to happen?"

"He's not going to school tomorrow. He said he has some gang stuff to do." Felix answered.

"Ok but what about Tuesday. What's going to happen then?"

Felix thought about all the scenarios that could happen. He never really thought about that until now. "I don't know." Felix told truthfully.

"Well I guess we'll find out soon." Jeongin said.

"You better not ditch us." Jisung threatened.

Felix laughed, "I would never ditch you guys and you know it."

"We would never let you ditch us." Seungmin scoffed.

-

**The next day**

Jisung's morning was the same as it always is. Brian came in his room and told him to get up before he's late. Jisung got ready and went down stairs and didn't eat breakfast which resulted in Jihyo scolding him for not eating. After that he walked out of his house and met up with Felix on the sidewalk.

"Wassup Felix." Jisung greeted.

"Hey Jisung." Felix smiled.

"Oh you're in a good mood." Jisung noticed.

"Yeah I feel really happy right now."

"Does a special someone have something to do with this?" Jisung teased.

Felix blushed, "No. Not at all."

Jisung scoffed, "Mhm. Ok."

They arrived at school and everyone's eyes were on them. Correction, everyone's eyes were on _Felix_. Seungmin and Jeongin walked up to the other two who were confused.

"Why is everyone staring at me." Felix whispered.

Seungmin and Jeongin looked at each other, not wanting to answer the question.

"What do you guys know that we don't." Jisung asked. Seungmin sighed and pulled them into an empty classroom.

"What is going on?" Felix asked again, by now he was getting kind of annoyed at the fact that they were stalling on telling him.

"Uh ok so everyone knows that you and Changbin hung out on Saturday _and_ Sunday so a bunch of people are really really mad and jealous." Seungmin explained quickly.

"Ok well they were jealous before, all they did was glare at me. It's not like they're going to do anything more." Felix brushed off.

Jeongin and Seungmin looked at each other again. "Hyung." Jeongin said softly, "They know the gang isn't going to be at school today so they took their chance and they're spreading rumors around. They even went as far as trashing your locker."

Jisung was boiling, "What rumors?" He demanded.

Jeongin looked over at Felix cautiously. "They're saying that you were following him and that you payed him to hang out with you and other ridiculous rumors." Jeongin replied.

"That makes no sense! How would you be able to force a gang member to hang out with you?" Jisung fumed.

Felix stayed quiet. He didn't know what to think. All this information was too much for him. This was definitely worse than last week. People were actually spreading rumors about him and violating his property.

"I want to go to my locker." Felix finally said.

"I cleaned up most of the papers they stuck on your locker." Seungmin said softly, almost as if he was scared that Felix would break at any moment.

"Thanks Minnie." Felix got up and walked out the door to his locker with his friends close behind.

During the time when the four boys were in the classroom talking, more people had stuck notes on his locker. They also sprayed about two cans of silly string and threw three eggs at it.

On Felix's locker there were papers with messages that said, _"Leave Changbin alone." "He's mine so fuck off" "You're so desperate it's sad." "He'll never want to hang out with you." "Why are you forcing yourself on Changbin." "Changbin's just playing with you. He would never like you." _The worst one was probably the one that said_, "He's probably only being nice to you so he can take you to their dungeon and kill you in the end."_And many many more.

Felix's stood there and stared at the messages on his locker, he was reading them. Seungmin noticed this and he quickly grabbed all the messages on the locker and threw them away. It was too late though, Felix had read all of them and it hurt. His happy mood crumbled down to the depth of the trench and instead it was replaced with betrayal. He believed all the messages and felt betrayed by Changbin, it was silly of them to feel that way but he didn't know better.

"Felix don't listen to them, you know none of those messages are true. They're just trying to scare you away from Changbin." Jisung tried to convince him.

"Well they succeeded." Felix quietly said as he opened up his locker and put his stuff inside. Seungmin, Jisung, and Jeongin all looked confused at what Felix meant, not wanting to believe what they thought he meant.

"What do you mean?" Seungmin was scared of the answer.

"How do I know that what they're saying isn't true? I don't. I'm just not going to talk to Changbin anymore, I don't want to risk it." Felix made up his mind and the three friends all widened their eyes.

"Felix you can't be serious. They're all just a bunch of losers who are trying to get to you. Don't let them do that." Seungmin reasoned.

"No but they're right. Changbin will never like me the way I like him. He can literally get anyone he wants so why would he settle with me. I was an idiot for even liking him. He probably does want to kill me."

Jisung, Seungmin, and Jeongin were in total shock at Felix's last sentence. They couldn't believe that he had said that when Changbin gave him every reason to believe that he wasn't out to kill Felix.

"Are you listening to what you're saying right now? Do you know how crazy you sound? I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that last sentence. You know that's not true hyung. He would _never_ do that to you and he's the one who asked you to hang out on Sunday." Jeongin said.

"Maybe he's just using me. Whatever it doesn't matter anyways. I don't want these rumors to get worse and I don't want to be treated worse by these jealous people. It's not worth it when Changbin doesn't even like me back. I can't deal with this. I'm just going to ignore him from now on. Hopefully people will see that I'm not after Changbin anymore and they'll stop hurting me. I'm not going to be Changbin's little toy or whatever." Felix slammed his locker. He looked at his friends and he was on the verge of tears. "So please, stop trying to convince me otherwise." He looked at each of them in the eye with begging eyes which were full of tears that were bound to fall down his face any second now.

Jisung, Seungmin, and Jeongin's heart broke for Felix. He was usually the happiest boy and seeing him almost crying hurt them. They wanted to beat every single person in this school but they knew they couldn't and they knew that Felix wouldn't want them to. The three friends nodded because that's the least they could do. Felix begged them to stop and they didn't want to make Felix even more sad by not listening to his pleads.

"Thank you." And with that they left to class.

When Seungmin, Felix and Jisung walked into class everyone started whispering. One person even went as far as tripping Felix while he was walking to his desk but the purple haired male's reflexes were fast knew enough to catch himself before he fell. Everyone laughed at Felix and high fived the person who tripped him.

Seungmin and Jisung glared at everyone while Felix just sighed and sat down at his desk.

The school day was hell for Felix and Jisung felt so useless. He couldn't help his friend. The most he could do was tell them to shut up and stop. He couldn't punch anyone because Felix would stop him.

Every time they walked down the hall people called Felix names under their breath but it could still be clearly heard. Lunch was the worst. Some people threw their food items at Felix while he was trying to eat his lunch. After the third food piece was thrown at him, Seungmin decided that they should eat on the rooftop.

Felix stayed very quiet throughout the whole day. He never got angry with the people who were being rude to him. He just ignored them. Or at least he tried. After a long day of school, it was finally over and Felix had never felt so happy to be going home. The four of them quickly packed their bags and rushed out of the school before more harm could be done towards Felix.

When they departed Felix told his friends, "Thank you guys for listening to me and for trying to help." He gave his first smile since the morning when he was in the happiest mood, but it was obvious that it was nowhere near a genuine smile.

"Of course Felix. We're here for you, please if you want to talk about it then don't hesitate to call us." Seungmin hugged Felix.

"Goodbye hyung don't think about it too much." Jeongin hugged Felix.

"Please get some rest. Get your mind off of it." Jisung whispered to Felix when he hugged him.

"Bye guys." Felix whispered as his voice cracked. He quickly waved and turned around to walk to his house, which was further away from everyone else's, before his friends could stop him and ask if he was ok. Once his face was out of his friends sight, he let his first tears, of many, stream down his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> yo i know this seems like a changlix fanfic but i swear that we will get to minsung soon.
> 
> poor felix getting treated like absolute trash. my heart hurts for him.
> 
> and i'm so sorry if this chapter is boring or rushed.
> 
> also your guys' comments make me happy so please keep on commenting ( ◠‿◠ )
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- he did what in front of the whole school ???


	14. t h i r t e e n .

Yedam rushed into his car and raced home. He ran into his home and looked around for a specific someone. He bolted to the basement and saw the gang sitting around. This was like deja vu from last night.

-

**Last night**

Yedam was sitting in the basement with his brother, Woojin, Hyunjin, and Minho. They were all playing a game on the switch when Changbin casually walked in.

"Hey guys." Changbin said.

"How was your little date." Hyunjin teased.

Changbin rolled his eyes, "It wasn't a date."

Everyone laughed, "Oh please Changbin hyung, do you really think we're that dumb." Yedam snorted.

"You like him don't you?" Woojin smirked.

"No." Changbin replied immediately.

Woojin rolled his eyes, "That's what Chan said to you guys when you asked him if he liked me and look where we are now." He tried to give Chan a kiss but he scoffed and pushed Woojin away.

"You don't hang out with anyone other than us, but here you are, ditching our meeting for a guy you just met. What's his name? Felix?" Hyunjin asked.

"Hey, it wasn't an important meeting so I didn't miss that much. And yeah his name's Felix." Changbin nodded.

"You definitely like him." Minho concluded, sitting back in his chair.

"I had to hang out with him. It was for a school project." Changbin tried to give an excuse.

Hyunjin scoffed at the audacity of his friend. "The project said you had to hang out with him for _one_ day. You didn't have to hang out with him today, but wait, you did, and _you _were the one who asked _him. _Now stop lying and tell us the truth."

Everyone's eyes were staring into Changbin's soul as they waited for his response. "I don't know. He's so innocent and adorable. His smile brights up the world. His eyes are so pretty. He's the nicest person and he's the only person who's ever actually tried to get to know me even after we finished our Korean project. His voice when he sings almost made me crash the car cause it was so amazing. His freckles are beautiful too. For some reason I was actually bothered when he was scared of me and when he believed in all the rumors about us." Changbin admitted.

Everyone smirked, "Who knew someone from a gang could be so cheesy." Yedam gagged. "You definitely like him." Everyone agreed.

"Ok maybe I do." Changbin finally admitted which started the unending teasing against him.

-

**Present day**

"Oh hey Yedam. How was school?" Chan asked when his little brother barged into the basement.

Yedam ignored his brother and fixated his stare on one person. He marched up to Changbin, ignoring everyone's confused stare. Changbin looked up from his phone, he saw Yedam's angry facial expression. "What's wrong?"

"Changbin hyung what have you _done_." Yedam seethed.

That got everyone's attention. They all stared back and forth between Changbin and Yedam. Changbin was beyond confused, not knowing what he was being accused of. He looked around at everyone and they were just as lost as him.

"What did I do?" He asked slowly.

"Do you even _know_ what happened at school today?" Changbin's eyebrows furrowed as he shook his head, even more confused.

"It's about Felix."

At the mention of his crush's name, Changbin's heart started pounding. He was nervous at what Yedam was about to tell him. "Wha-what about Felix?"

"Apparently someone found out that you two hung out on Saturday _and _Sunday so they spread rumors around school saying that Felix was following you around and payed you to hang out with him. They said that you're just playing with him and that you're using him. They also said that you only hung out with him because you felt bad for him. They threw eggs at his locker and sprayed silly string all over it. A bunch of people stuck notes with horrible messages to his locker. They seriously had the worst things written on them and oh my god hyung, Felix's reaction when he read the notes on his locker, you can tell from a mile away he was absolutely heartbroken. Tears were gonna spill from his eyes at any moment." Yedam explained.

Everyone was stunned when they heard what came out of Yedam's mouth. They knew the students at their school was obsessed with them but they didn't think the people would stoop this low and take it this far. As Changbin processed what was explained, he became absolutely furious. You could see the pure flames coming out of his eyes. His jaw was clenched and he gripped his phone so hard, his knuckles turned white.

"What did the notes say on them." Changbin spoke through his clenched jaw.

"You probably don't want to know." Yedam looked down.

"Tell me the worst ones." The fuming male talked in a way where there was no room for discussion.

Yedam gulped, "...The worst ones said that, uh, you were only getting close with him so you can, um, take him to the dungeon and...um..." Yedam didn't finish his sentence and he didn't have to, everyone knew what he was going to say and they all widened their eyes. Changbin was going to break his phone if he gripped it any tighter.

Yedam continued, "It gets worse. Every time he walked down the hall, people would call him nasty names loud enough for him to hear and during lunch people were throwing food at him. His friends tried to fight back but Felix stopped them. I also heard that someone tripped him in class while he was going to his desk. Hyung it was absolutely horrible."

"They're all going to be dead." Changbin growled as his eyes darkened. He got up from his seat and stormed out of the basement. The raging male went to his room and called Felix immediately. There was no answer. Changbin tried again and the result was the same. Then he decided to text Felix.

**changbin**  
felix answer me

Changbin was pacing back and forth in his bedroom waiting for Felix's response. Finally after a few minutes he got a reply back.

**felix**  
i'm busy.

Changbin tried to call again and again but Felix never answered. Changbin decided that he was going to text Felix his explanation.

**changbin**  
felix i know what happened to you today at school. i know about all the rumors that spread andi just want you to know that none of them are true. i'm not trying to use you at all.i seriously love hanging out with you because you're funny and sweet. you make me really happy. dont believe in any of the rumors. please believe me.

**felix**  
I'm sorry but the person you are   
trying to reach cannot receive any  
of your text messages anymore.

Changbin's heart stopped. Felix had blocked his number.

Without thinking twice, Changbin grabbed his keys and raced downstairs, almost running into Chan in the process.

"Woah where are you going?" Chan asked.

"I need to tell Felix the truth but he blocked my number so I'm going to his house." Changbin basically rapped.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Chan warned.

"What do you mean? Get out of my way and let me go. I don't have time for this hyung." Changbin started to get impatient.

"Changbin, do you think he's going to want to open the door for you? No. You're just going to get him more sad if you keep nagging him. Give him some time to digest this and talk to him tomorrow." Chan reasoned.

Changbin groaned. He knew Chan was right but he wanted to get this whole thing cleared up as soon as possible. Changbin slumped, he felt defeated. He trudged back to his room and stayed there for the rest of the night.

-

**The next day**

Jisung and Felix had arrived to school. Today was not as bad at yesterday. No one said anything and no one did anything to his locker. Probably because Stray Kids were coming back to school today. All they did was glare at Felix which he could deal with.

When they met up with Seungmin and Jeongin, Felix asked them, "Guys, please help me avoid Changbin. I really don't want to deal with him right now and I'm still ignoring him."

The three friends all nodded even though they really didn't want to help him avoid Changbin. They wanted them to talk especially after Felix told them that he blocked the gang member's phone number.

Jisung, Seungmin, and Felix arrived at their classroom and sat down. Class began and of course the three gang members entered the class five minutes late. Felix immediately looked down, pretending to be writing something. He didn't want to look at Changbin. The gang member noticed this and frowned. He sat behind Felix and tired to call out his name and get his attention, but Felix ignored all of Changbin's attempts and instead he listened to the teacher who had a student in front of everyone.

"Ok class we have a new student today. His name is Choi Soobin. I expect you guys to be nice to him and help him around school." Mr. Park introduced the new student. Soobin sat down at his desk which was on the other side of the classroom.

"We have a camp trip that everyone has to go to. It's this Friday. This camp activity is only for juniors and we're going to be doing many fun things. We'll be there for three days and two nights. You're sleeping in a really nice cabin with bunk beds. On the form I'm about to give you, you need to write down five people who you want to cabin with. It can be anyone from your grade, it doesn't have to be anyone from just this class. The teachers will look at them and choose who's in your cabin with you. Get these forms signed because they're due on Thursday. Jisung please give everyone a form."

Jisung internally groaned. He got up from his seat and grabbed the stack of forms. He started handing everyone a form.

When he gave the new kid a form, he said "You're Jisung, right?"

"Um, yeah?" Jisung answered confused as to why he was asking.

"Oh so you're the smartest person in this school." Soobin realized.

"Mhm" Jisung replied wanting to get out of this conversation as soon as possible.

"Anyways thanks for the form." Soobin smiled.

"I'm just doing what I'm told." Jisung replied as he continued to give everyone a form.

_What the hell was that about? That was so awkward. Why'd he ask if I was Jisung?_

Class was over and it was finally time for lunch. Seungmin, Jisung and Felix immediately ran out of the classroom when the teacher dismissed the class. They ran all the way up to the roof of the school. Felix didn't want to eat in the cafeteria since it would be easy for Changbin to find him.

"Hyung, this might not be a popular opinion but I think you should talk to Changbin. He's looking for you." Jeongin said as soon as he got onto the rooftop.

"It's probably not even important." Felix brushed off. The three friends sighed. They knew they wouldn't be able to convince Felix so they just let the subject go.

Towards the end of lunch Felix said "I think I'm gonna go home."

"Right now?" Seungmin asked and Felix nodded.

"What why?" Jisung asked worried.

"This whole situation is stressing me out and I just need a break from it." Felix explained sadly.

"I hope you rest well hyung." Jeongin said.

"I will don't worry." With that Felix left to go home.

"Why can't that little shit just talk to Changbin." Seungmin sighed.

"He's being so dumb right now. He's hurting himself more by ignoring him." Jisung complained.

The bell rang indicating that lunch was over. They cleaned up and walked towards their classes. When class begun, Jisung realized that Changbin wasn't in his seat. Minho and Hyunjin were there but Changbin was not. That's when the school's intercom turned on and someone started speaking.

"Hey it's Changbin. I just wanted to come on here and clear all the rumors going around about me and Felix. No he did not follow me around. No he did not pay me to hang out with him. No I did not hang out with him because I felt bad for him. No I am not using Felix. The truth is that I was the one who asked him to hang out with me on Saturday and Sunday. It was my choice because I actually enjoy hanging out with him. He's sweet and funny and I don't need you shit heads ruining it for me. You guys are absolutely ridiculous for spreading these bullshit rumors that don't even add up. You guys are reaching with these rumors. Maybe if you guys were as invested in your school work as you are with this situation, that doesn't even bother you, then you wouldn't be failing your classes and you would actually be able to graduate from this school. If you guys used your brains then you would've realized how much of an actual dumbass you sound and how much you're embarrassing yourself. If I see one more person glare at him or call him names or whatever the fuck, I promise you that you're going to wish you never did." The intercom turned off.

Jisung's jaw dropped to his desk. He turned to Seungmin and he had the same expression.

_'Oh my god. Did that really just happen?'_ Jisung mouthed to Seungmin.

_'I don't even know what's real right now.'_ Seungmin mouthed back.

Minho and Hyunjin on the other hand snorted at Changbin. Minho turned to Hyunjin and Hyunjin said "He's whipped."

"Definitely." Minho said back.

A few minutes later, Changbin walked into the classroom with an angry look on his face. The angry look soon turned to disappointment when he saw that Felix was not sitting in his seat. Changbin sighed and sat down at his seat.

Soon the school day was over finally and Jisung and Seungmin were about to walk out the door when a hand grabbed Jisung's wrist, stopping him from walking. Seungmin stopped walking when Jisung stopped, confused.

Startled, Jisung looked at the hand that was gripping on his wrist. That's when he saw it again. The scars that made Jisung question the life of Minho. This time Jisung was able to get a better look at the mysterious scars on Minho's wrists. It was a dark red outline and it circled around Minho's wrist. It seemed like the scars were made from rope burns? Zip tie burns? Jisung didn't know but Minho had multiple scars around his wrists as if it happened multiple times.

Minho saw that Jisung was looking at his wrists and quickly let go of Jisung. The shorter snapped from his focus on Minho's wrists and quickly apologized.

"S-sorry." Jisung looked down. Minho rolled his eyes and crossed arms.

Jisung looked around. No one was here, all the students and the teacher had left expect for Minho, Hyunjin, Changbin, Seungmin, and him.

"Uh, why'd you stop me?" Jisung asked.

"We want answers from you both. Actually Changbin wants answers." Hyunjin said as he and Changbin walked up from behind Minho.

"Answers? About what?" Seungmin asked.

"About Felix." Changbin answered.

Jisung looked at Seungmin who was looking at him. "What about Felix?" Jisung asked when he looked back at Changbin.

"Where is he?" Changbin asked.

"He went home during lunch." Seungmin answered.

"Why?"

"He's stressed and needed rest."

"Why'd he block my number? Why's he ignoring me? And why are you guys helping him avoid me?" Changbin wasted no time to get straight to the point.

Jisung and Seungmin look at each other again, not knowing what to say. They didn't want to expose their friend.

That's when the classroom door opened and everyone's eyes darted to the door. Jeongin's head popped in. He was smiling but when he saw the three gang members his facial expression turned to concern and confusion.

"Uh, what's going on?" Jeongin asked.

"Jeongin just wait at my locker. We'll be there in a minute." Seungmin instructed.

"Ok?" Jeongin looked at his two friends weirdly but nonetheless left the classroom, not wanting to disrupt whatever was going on.

"Well?" Changbin asked, getting impatient.

"It's not our place to tell..." Jisung mumbled.

"You probably have an idea on why he's ignoring you though." Seungmin hinted.

Changbin groaned, "He seriously had to go home at the worst time." Which made Hyunjin and Minho snort.

"I'm going to his house." Changbin decided.

"Uh I wouldn't do that if I were you." Seungmin warned.

"What why?" Changbin raised his eyebrow.

"Just trust me. Give him some space and time. Jisung, Jeongin and I will go to his house right now and we'll try to talk to him."

"Fine whatever." Changbin didn't want to agree but he had no choice.

Jisung and Seungmin took that agreement as their cue to leave the classroom. The hallways were empty which was weird to see since it's always so crowded. They walked to their lockers and saw Jeongin standing there waiting for them.

"Uh? What was that all about?"

"We'll tell you while we're walking to Felix's house." Seungmin and Jisung quickly packed their bags and left the school campus to go to Felix's house.

As they walked, Jisung and Seungmin explained everything that happened. Jeongin was shocked. "Woah I didn't think Changbin cared that much about Felix. Especially when he talked on the intercom to clear the rumors. I would've never imagined _him_ to do _that_."

"That's what I was thinking too." Jisung agreed.

They arrived at Felix's house and they quickly knocked on the door. His mom answered the door.

"Hi Mrs. Lee! We're here to check up on Felix and give him his homework." They half lied.

"Jisung! Seungmin! Jeongin! Oh come in! He's upstairs in his room sleeping I think." She opened the door wider and let them inside.

The three walked up the stairs to Felix's bed and barged in, not caring if they woke him up. Felix groggily opened his eyes and looked at his three friends staring at him, "Why are you guys here?"

"We have something to tell you." Seungmin answered.

"What..." Felix said wearily, not knowing if he actually wanted to know what they were going to say.

"You will not believe what happened hyung." Jeongin secretly smiled.

"Just tell me!" Felix started to get impatient.

"Ok well after you left we went to our class and I noticed that Changbin wasn't sitting in his seat but Hyunjin and Minho were, so I was confused. Out of nowhere the intercom turned on and Changbin started speaking through it. He basically said that all the rumors going around about him and you were all fake and not true. He told everyone that it was his idea to hang out with you and he said that he enjoyed hanging out with you because you're sweet and funny. He cleared up every single rumor and threatened everyone that if they glare or call you names one more time then they'll regret it." Jisung took a deep breath after explaining everything.

Felix was shocked to hear that. He was overwhelmed and didn't know what to think.

"H-he really did that?" Felix spoke quietly.

"Yes he did." Seungmin confirmed.

"I'm telling you hyung, Changbin likes you. I mean why else would he go through the trouble to gain access to the intercom to stop all the rumors about you."

"I don't know. Maybe because he was also a part of the rumors?"

Jisung rubbed his temple, Jeongin face palmed, and Seungmin gave Felix an _'are you fucking serious?'_ look.

"Do you even know how many rumors there are about him everyday that spread around school? He's never wasted his time to clear the air because he never cared about what others think. But now that you're in the rumors too, he was quick to debunk all of them because he cares about you Felix. Get it through your thick head." Seungmin began getting annoyed at Felix's dumb self.

The purple haired male didn't know what to say. He knew that what Seungmin was saying was true, but he didn't want to believe it. It would hurt Felix less if in case Changbin was actually doing this just to play with his feelings.

"Felix I know what you're thinking right now. It's not true. Changbin actually cares about you. He literally stopped me and Seungmin from leaving the classroom just so he could ask about you and why you were avoiding him."

"Did you tell him?" Felix panicked.

"No of course not, but you need to. He was about to come to your house so he could tell you himself but we stopped him." Felix sighed out of relief.

"Talk to him Felix. Just talk to him." Seungmin urged.

"I will... Just give me some time. I just need some time to think about this because it's a lot to take in." Felix looked down.

"Can you at least unblock him and text him that. He's seriously worried."

Felix hesitated for a few seconds which caused everyone to yell "Felix!"

"Ok! I'll unblock him right now."

Felix reach over to his nightstand and grabbed his phone. He clicked the unblock button and texted Changbin.

**felix**  
hey changbin.

Changbin replied almost immediately.

**changbin**  
felix, hey.  
are you ok?

**felix**  
yeah im fine i just need  
some time and space to think   
about this whole situation.

**changbin**  
i totally understand.  
i just wanted to know   
if you're ok.

**felix**  
thanks changbin

Felix turned off his phone and threw it at the end of his bed, sighing.

-

**Friday**

Today was the day that all the juniors were going to the camp. Jisung was sitting at his desk talking with Seungmin and Felix. The week went by really quick. No one ever messed with Felix since they were too scared to do anything. Changbin gave Felix the space he'd ask for. The week started out stressful but it's about to end really fun.

"Do you think we're gonna be in the same cabin?" Felix asked.

"Yes of course." Jisung answered.

"Who else do you think is going to be in our cabin?" Seungmin wondered.

"I hope it's some nice people." Felix mumbled.

"What if it's Changbin, Hyunjin and Minho?" Seungmin joked.

"I would sell my eye." Jisung said.

The teacher walked in and asked for everyone's attention.

"I'm going to tell you now who your cabin mates are so please listen carefully."

The teacher started calling out each cabin number and who will be staying in that cabin.

"In cabin number three, it is Jisung, Seungmin, Felix-"

All three boys let out a breath they didn't even know they were holding in. They were relieved that they were in the same cabin but the feeling of relief didn't last long when they heard who else they were going to share the cabin with.

"-Minho, Changbin, and Hyunjin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> oooo they're in the same cabin. what do you think is going to happen?
> 
> minsung content is gonna happen very very soon yall please be patient lmao.
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- get you a friend like seungmin  
\- ah shit here we go again  
\- panic attack ???
> 
> next chapter is going to be juicy, i can't wait for you guys to read it hehe. im updating twice this week so the next chapter will be posted on friday.


	15. f o u r t e e n .

_"In cabin number three, it is Jisung, Seungmin, Felix, Minho, Changbin, and Hyunjin."_

The eyes of the six mentioned boys went wide. They did not believe what was said. There was no way that the odds in the world was this bad.

Jisung looked at Felix who was already looking at him with the same facial expression. Panic in their eyes.

"Those are your cabin mates. I hope you're happy with it. No you cannot ask for a change because then that'll mess everything up. All the teachers thought long and hard about your groups so please appreciate it. We'll be leaving in about ten minutes so you guys can do whatever you want in the meantime but don't leave the classroom." The teacher sat back down at his desk to answer some emails. "Oh! Also I forgot to mention that during this camp trip, there are going to be two other schools so please be nice to them."

Seungmin got up from his desk and sat on Felix's desk. "So Jisung, which eye are you selling?" He snorted.

"How are you laughing at this? We're going to spend the next three days with gang members." Jisung hissed.

"As long as I don't talk to them then I should be fine." Seungmin shrugged. "I thought you weren't afraid of them anymore?"

"That doesn't mean I like them now. I don't want to share a cabin with them for three days." Jisung groaned.

Seungmin rolled his eyes, "You'll be fine."

"I think you're jinxing us. First you asked us 'what if all three members would be in our class' and it turned out, they were. Then today you asked us 'what if we shared a cabin with all three of them' and now we are." Jisung pointed out.

"I think it's a sign from God to get Felix and Changbin to finally talk." Seungmin turned to Felix.

Felix sighed, "I was hoping to drag it out a little longer but now I can't."

"You've dragged it out enough. It's time for you talk to him tonight."

"Yeah yeah." 

After a few minutes the teacher spoke again. "Ok class let's start heading out to the front of the school where the buses are." Mr. Park got up from his desk and walked out the door.

"Well, here goes nothing." Seungmin jumped off of Felix's desk and walked out the door. Jisung and Felix stayed close behind. Seungmin seemed a little too excited about this trip.

The three of them all sat together on one seat. The drive there was nothing special. It was about an hour drive to the camp place and they all fell asleep at the start of the drive. They slept throughout the whole drive and woke up when a teacher started yelling at the students to quiet down so they can hear what she was going to say.

"When we get off this bus, I want everyone to go to their cabin and drop off all their stuff. Today is going to be uneventful. We don't have anything planned so you guys can just hang around and get to know the area or your cabin mates. We'll blow the horns when it's time for dinner but other than that you guys are free to do what you want. Tomorrow is when we'll start the activities." The teacher proceeded to get off the bus.

Everyone stood up from their seat, eager to get off the bus. Seungmin, Jisung, and Felix sat at the back of the bus so they were the last ones to get off. There were about ten buses parked in a line. Four of them were from Jisung's school since their school was the biggest. Three of them were from SM High School and the remaining three were from YG High School.

"I really don't want to go to our cabin." Jisung complained.

"Maybe if we get there fast enough, we can drop off our stuff and get out of the cabin before they enter the cabin." Seungmin suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Felix started to walk faster.

"You're gonna talk to him at some point during this trip right?" Seungmin asked Felix.

"Yeah definitely..." Felix said unsure.

"Felix, stop hurting the poor guy's heart and talk to him. I know you miss him too." Jisung butted in.

They arrived at cabin three, "I'm just scared and nervous." Felix opened the door as he continued to say "He probably forgot about me alre-"

Felix froze when he looked inside the cabin.

"What?" Jisung and Seungmin were confused as to why he stopped talking so suddenly. They looked over his shoulder and understood why.

In front of them was Minho, Changbin, and Hyunjin. Changbin was sitting on a bottom bunk while Minho and Hyunjin stood in front of him with their arms crossed. They looked like they were in a serious conversation but now they were staring at the three who were in front of the door.

Felix freaked out and quickly closed the cabin door.

"Felix what the hell? Why aren't you going in?" Jisung asked.

"They look like they're in a serious conversation and I don't want to disturb them." Felix half lied. He was mostly trying to avoid Changbin as much as he could.

Seungmin rolled his eyes, "I don't have time for this Felix, you better open that door. I want to drop off my stuff, my arms are killing me." Felix hesitated which made Seungmin impatient.

"Give me your stuff." Seungmin demanded holding his hand out.

Confused, Felix and Jisung gave Seungmin their bags. The latter nudged Felix out of the way and opened the door again. The gang member's eyes landed on them again. Seungmin didn't care and he walked in. Looking at the bunk beds he noticed that all three of the gang members occupied the bottom bunks. Seungmin rolled his eyes. _Of course these greedy assholes took the bottom bunk._

Seungmin threw his and his friend's stuff on each top bunk. He made sure to put Felix's stuff on the top bunk of Changbin's bunk bed.

While Seungmin was putting the stuff on the bunks, Jisung noticed that Changbin's eyes never left Felix. Of course Felix didn't notice since he was doing the absolute most to not make eye contact with Changbin. Jisung felt bad for the raven haired male. He could tell how much Changbin had missed talking to Felix. Felix was being a stubborn scaredy cat which was hurting them both in the end.

"Felix go talk to Changbin right now." Jisung whispered to Felix.

"Are you crazy?" Felix aggressively whispered back.

"Changbin has been staring at you this whole time. He misses you and I know you miss him back so what's stopping you from talking to him."

Felix sighed as he looked down "I'm just... scared. Scared that he's going to tell me he's sick of me."

Seungmin came back after putting away the bags, "Let's go."

Just then, Jisung had thought of a brilliant plan.

"Wait before we do that..." Jisung said. He suddenly pushed Felix inside the cabin, causing him to stumble inside. He would've fallen if it weren't for his good reflexes.

Felix turned around to Jisung, "Jisung what the hell?"

"Talk to him you big baby." Jisung whispered not so quietly since everyone in the cabin heard what he said. Jisung smiled at Changbin and quickly closed the cabin door dragging Seungmin away, leaving Felix in a cabin with three gang members.

Felix stood there awkwardly while everyone's eyes were boring Felix's head. The purple haired male nervously rubbed his nape and looked at Changbin, "Can we um talk, please?"

Changbin looked at his friends, silently asking them to get out. They quickly got the message and said, "We'll leave."

Minho patted Changbin's shoulder as Hyunjin whispered, "Good luck buddy." And then they left the cabin.

Felix and Changbin stood there in silence for at least thirty seconds before Felix found the courage to speak up.

"I'm sorry, for basically ignoring you this whole time Changbin." Felix said quietly while keeping his vision on the floor.

"Felix you don't need to apologize. I understand why you would want to ignore me but I just want to tell you that none of those rumors you heard at school are true. I'm not trying to use you and I would never hurt you Felix. I really do care about you." Changbin said genuinely.

Felix finally looked at Changbin, "But why? How do I know you're not lying to me? How do I know you're telling me the truth? Changbin you've never talked to or hung out with anyone aside from your gang and then you suddenly want to hang out with me and be friends? Tell me where that makes sens-."

"Because I like you." Changbin interrupted.

Felix stopped talking and his jaw slightly opened. His mind went blank. _Changbin likes me?_

"Y-you what?" Felix stuttered.

"I like you Felix. A lot." Changbin sighed, "I've never felt this way with anyone. I've never liked anyone because no one interested me until you came along. You're the only person who actually wanted to know more about me instead of being the type of people who only talk to me because of my looks or my reputation. When you told me you were scared of me because of the rumors you heard and because of who I am, I wanted to clear all the rumors and prove to you that I was not a threat to you which is weird because I never care about those things with other people. That's when I realized it was because I cared about you. I love your smile, your freckles, and your eye smile. Your laugh is music to my ears and it makes me happy when I'm the reason why you're laughing. Your voice when you sing makes me melt. Not to be cheesy but Saturday and Sunday were truly one of the best days I've had because I got to hang out with you. Seeing you hurting on Tuesday because of me, made my heart break. You ignoring me made me want to punch walls. Giving you space was the hardest thing to do when all I wanted to do was talk to you and hug you all day. I know it's crazy for me to feel these things after knowing you for literally two days, it's crazy for me too, but I hope you believe me when I tell you that I like you so so much.."

Felix was speechless. It took some time for him to process what Changbin had said. Felix started to tear up.

Changbin noticed and panicked. He wiped the tears away. "Oh god please don't cry. I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry."

Felix wrapped his arms around Changbin's neck and hugged the latter. "I like you too Changbin."

Changbin froze at that. "You do?"

Felix nodded and pulled away from the hug, "Why else would you think I was so upset with all the rumors? It made me realize that you could get anyone you wanted so there was no way you would choose someone like me." Felix looked down.

Hearing that made Changbin's heart hurt. He placed his hand on Felix's cheek, this action made the taller look at Changbin..

"Felix you are absolutely perfect inside and out. There are many reasons why I like you instead of those other people. They don't even compare to you. If anything, I'm surprised that you like me back since I'm in a gang and all." Changbin said.

"Stop." Felix said shyly. He gently pushed Changbin "Who knew a gang member could be so sweet."

"I can have my moments." Changbin shrugged which made Felix roll his eyes playfully. "Only for you though." Changbin smirked.

"Stop being so cheesy and cringey." Felix mumbled as he covered his blushing face with his hands

Changbin chuckled at the younger's reaction. He grabbed Felix's hands and pulled them away from his face, holding them in his hands instead.

"Felix, would you like to be my boyfriend?" Changbin asked with hope in his eyes.

Felix's lips curled into the biggest smile he's ever had. "I would love to."

Changbin beamed at the answer and pulled Felix into a hug. "Thank god. I don't know what I would've done if you would've said no."

Felix laughed, "you're so dramatic."

-

Jisung and Seungmin were walking around the lake, that was a part of the camp sight, when the horn blew, signaling that dinner was ready.

They walked to the cafeteria building and saw Felix there, waiting for them.

"Oh hey Felix." Jisung greeted.

Felix greeted back with a big smile. He seemed to be back in his happy mood. Jisung guessed that him and Changbin talked and are back to being friends again.

"You seem to be in a good mood." Seungmin noticed, "What happened?"

"Well," Felix started. "I just want to thank you, Jisung, for pushing me in the cabin and forcing me to talk to Changbin."

Jisung snorted, "Yeah I know I have the best plans. Now go on, what happened?"

"Me and Changbin talked it out and turns out he likes me back because he confessed and then I admitted that I liked him back and then he asked me out. So now I'm Changbin's boyfriend." Felix blurted out.

Seungmin and Jisung were in shock. They didn't think the situation was going to turn out this well.

"Oh my god Felix!! I'm so happy for you!" Jisung freaked out.

"Changbin better treat you right or else I'm going to beat his ass. I don't care if he's in a gang." Seungmin said.

Felix laughed, "I'm scared for Changbin."

"Yeah me too." Jisung agreed.

"Come on let's go eat. Changbin wants us to sit with him and his friends."

Jisung protested, "I am not about to sit with Minho. He completely hates my guts. He'll ruin my appetite."

Felix rolled his eyes, "You forced me to talk to Changbin when I didn't want to and now you're gonna have to sit with Minho even if you don't want to."

"Hey but you got a happy ending in your situation!" Jisung argued.

"Who knows, you could get Minho to not hate you by the end of dinner." Felix shrugged.

Jisung rolled his eyes, "That's highly unlikely but fine whatever. I'm only doing this for you and if I get punched by the end of this dinner then I'm gonna shave your hair while you're sleeping." Felix laughed.

"Can we go? I'm starving." Seungmin complained.

"Yeah come on." Felix led the way into the building.

When they entered the building, Jisung was overwhelmed by the amount of students that were in one area. There had to have been at least a couple of thousand students in this building. The place was so crowded that Jisung, Felix, and Seungmin couldn't even get five steps past the door. Jisung didn't notice how big this building was. What the brown haired boy did notice was that the students were all glancing over at the same place. The middle of the building. The students further away would stand up every so often so they can get a good look at the middle.

Jisung didn't understand why they were all looking towards the middle but he wanted to see what was so interesting too. He stood on his tippy toes and looked at what everyone was looking at. That's when he realized why everyone was looking at the middle.

Of course Minho, Changbin, and Hyunjin decided to sit at the table in the middle of the building. It's almost as if they wanted all the attention they get.

Everyone was staring in awe like the three were some sort of celebrity. Stray Kids is a very known gang in Seoul. Everyone knows who they are and their reputation. The students who went to the other schools had never seen Chan, Woojin, Minho, Changbin, or Hyunjin in real life. They've seen some of the other Stray Kids gang members since they go to the same school as some of them but they've never seen the main members in real life. The strongest members of Stray Kids. The original five. They've only heard stories about them and seen pictures of them. So finally being able to see Minho, Changbin and Hyunjin in real life was monumental.

That's when Jisung started hearing all the whispers.

"Oh my god is that them?"

"They look better in real life."

"Are any of them single?"

"I would never want to get on the wrong side of them. Look at them, they have serious rbf. Not someone I would want to mess with."

"I hope I'll be able to see them fight someone during this camp trip."

"I would go up to them but I'm too scared."

"I heard that Minho kid is the strongest and rudest. He apparently won't hesitate to hit you."

"Don't mess with Minho, he's heartless."

"I heard Hyunjin flirts with everyone. Maybe I can get him to flirt with me."

"They all look intimidating but why does Changbin look the most intimidating. And why and I so attracted to it.

"I think I'm gay for them."

Felix turned to his friends.

"I don't know if I can do this."

Jisung and Seungmin looked at their friend with confused. "Do what?" Jisung asked.

"Everyone's staring at Changbin and Minho and Hyunjin. Once they know that me and Changbin are dating they're gonna treat me worse than our school when they found out I hung out with Changbin." Felix was visibly shaking. Poor guy was absolutely scarred from the previous experience.

"Felix, you can't let them get in between your relationship with Changbin. That's not fair for the both of you. Changbin won't let them do anything to you and you know that. I'm sure everyone here would be too scared to even look your way once they know that you're with him." Seungmin spoke the truth.

"I just don't want or like the attention." Felix mumbled.

"Just ignore them and think about Changbin." Jisung tried to help.

"I-I can't ignore them. All their eyes are gonna be on me and I'll be able to hear their whispers." Felix started hyperventilating. He was about to have a panic attack.

Seungmin lean to Jisung and whispered in his ear, "Try to calm him down, I'm gonna go get Changbin." Jisung nodded.

Seungmin had to push past everyone in his way. He didn't care who he had to nudge. After pushing for a minute he was able to make his way towards the middle. He heard a wave of whispers, people asking their friends "who is that?" "Why is he going to Stray Kids' table?" "He's not part of the gang?" "Who does he think he is?" But Seungmin didn't care, he had one objective and that was to get Changbin.

"Changbin follow me _now_." Seungmin demanded once he arrived at the table.

Minho, Hyunjin and Changbin looked up at Seungmin, surprised at his tone. No one dared to use a demanding tone towards them so fact that Seungmin was using it was caught them off guard. If it was anyone else then Minho would've already swung his fist but since the dandy boy is Felix's friend he didn't do anything.

"Seungmin? Where's Felix?" Changbin looked around and couldn't see the purple haired boy anywhere in sight.

"Your boyfriend is about to have a panic attack and me and Jisung can't calm him down so we need you to calm him." Seungmin grumbled.

Changbin's eyes opened wide. He quickly stood up, "Where is he?"

"He's at the door."

Changbin wasted no time to walk towards the door. Of course wherever he walked, everyone split in half, making a clear walkway for him. Some of the kids from the other schools didn't know to move away when a gang members walks near you but they quickly learned after other students pulled them away just in time to get out of Changbin's way. No one wanted to be in his route, especially right now when he looked serious.

"Why's he having a panic attack?" Changbin asked.

"Since you and your friends sat in the middle of the building, everyone's attention is on you guys and Felix is scared that once they find out you're dating him, they'll treat him worse than our school did when they found out you both hung out." Seungmin quickly explained.

Changbin frowned and quickened his pace. Finally reaching the door, he saw Felix with his back towards everyone and Jisung was in front him trying to calm him down.

"Felix." Changbin said to him softly.

Felix stiffened at the voice for a split second before he turned out and almost instantly calmed down. He felt safe with Changbin. All his worries wash away when he looks into Changbin's eyes.

"It's ok, I'm here this time. I won't let them do anything to you." Changbin reassured.

"I-I'm scared." Felix managed to get out.

"Just look at me. I'll be by your side. I'm not going to leave you." Changbin held his hand out.

Felix looked at Changbin's hand and looked around the lunchroom. Everyone's eyes was focused on him, wondering what his next move will be.

Changbin noticed what his boyfriend was doing. "Don't look at them. Look at me."

The purple haired male slowly looked back at Changbin. Felix took a deep breath and took his hand in his. Changbin smiled and pulled Felix to his side and they walked back to the table.

Saying everyone was shocked was an understatement. No one had expected for Changbin to be in a relationship. Everyone gasped when Felix held Changbin's hand. Then the whispers started.

"Are they dating?"

"He's dating someone?"

"Aw I wanted to date him."

"They're actually kind of cute together."

"How's he not scared of Changbin?"

"Who is that?"

"Changbin could do much better than _that_."

The last one wasn't even a whisper. Changbin heard it. Jisung and Seungmin, who were behind Changbin and Felix, heard it. Felix most definitely heard it and it made the latter insecure. He loosened his grin on Changbin's hand but Changbin tightened his grip. He stopped walking and looked for the girl who had whispered that.

When he found her, he gave her the death glare. There was fire in his eyes. The hand that wasn't holding Felix's, was balled in a tight fist. Felix had never seen someone regret their life choices as fast as the girl did. Even Jisung was scared and he hadn't even seen the glare that Changbin was giving. Just the energy Changbin was radiating was scary enough. The raven haired male started to walk towards the girl and she started to shake even more.

Felix pulled Changbin back, "Changbin let's go, you're scaring her. I feel bad for her."

Changbin looked back at Felix about to protest but once he met Felix's eyes, his eyes softened. "Ok Lix."

Changbin turned back to the girl, "You're lucky my boyfriend took pity on a rat like you." He spat and then continued towards the table.

No one spoke a word again. No one teased or made fun of Felix. They were too scared of what Changbin was going to do to them if he found out. Although they wanted to see one of the gang members fight someone, they didn't want that someone to be them.

The four finally arrived at the table. Three people at most could sit on each side of the table. Hyunjin and Minho sat at one side and Changbin and Felix were definitely going to sit on the other side. This meant that either him or Seungmin was going to have to sit next to Minho.

"Seungmin if you love me then you'll sit next to Minho." Jisung tried to blackmail.

"Jisung, because I love you, I'm going to force you to sit next to Minho so maybe you can get him to not hate you." Seungmin said.

"Do you want me to get punched?" Jisung questioned.

"Honestly yeah, I would love to see that." Jisung glared at Seungmin. "Just don't talk to him. That way you won't risk getting punched." Seungmin quickly sat next to Felix.

Jisung gave another glare to Seungmin as he sat down next to Minho, _'You're dead to me.'_ Jisung mouthed to him making his friend laugh.

"What're you laughing at Minnie?" Felix asked, confused as to why he was randomly laughing.

The nickname Felix called Seungmin made Changbin a tiny bit jealous. He knew he shouldn't be since they're best friends but he just couldn't help it since Felix doesn't call him any cute nicknames.

"Jisung's just so funny." Seungmin smiled at Jisung almost mockingly.

"Thanks." Jisung said emotionlessly.

The staff started to hand out the food to the tables. Jisung noticed that Minho declined the plate of food that was offered to him. Jisung forgot about his goal of not talking to Minho for the sake of his safety and spoke to Minho.

"Why aren't you eating?" Jisung quietly said to the taller.

Minho didn't expect for Jisung to talk to him. He looked surprised for a second "I'm just not that hungry." He said bluntly.

"You should still eat something."

"I'll be fine."

"No you won't. You're gonna get hungry later." Jisung pushed his food plate towards Minho. "Here, let's share since I won't be able to eat all of this."

"Seriously I'm good." Minho said sternly trying to show Jisung that he wasn't going to change his mind.

But Jisung being the stubborn person he is, continued to ask, "Please just eat some of the food." Jisung begged.

Minho looked at Jisung with an unreadable expression.

_Oh fuck. I pushed the limit. Why do I do this to myself? He's definitely gonna punch me now. Welp at least I get to shave Felix's hair._

Minho sighed. "Ok fine." He grabbed his utensil and ate the food on the plate.

Jisung was shocked to say the least. He honestly didn't think this situation was going to end in his favor. _What the hell just happened?_ Jisung quickly started eating too, smiling at the turn out of the situation.

Changbin and Hyunjin made eye contact with the same facial expression in their face. Pure shock.

After dinner it became late and the six people decided to call it a day.

This was the first time Jisung had been inside of the cabin. He noticed that there were two bunk beds against the wall on the right side and one bunk bed on the left side. The cabin was actually really really clean. Jisung imagined it to have dust and spider webs everywhere with rust on the window but instead it was spotless and taken care of.

"Where'd you put my stuff." Jisung asked Seungmin.

Seungmin pointed to the only bunk bed on the left. "Over there."

Jisung wanted to die. He saw Minho sitting on the bottom bunk checking through his phone.

"You purposefully did this didn't you, you asshat?" Jisung accused Seungmin.

Seungmin smiled and shrugged. "I don't know maybe." Which resulted in Jisung slapping his shoulder and fake strangling Seungmin.

Felix climbed on his top bunk. "I hate top bunks." He said as he flopped down.

"You wanna switch? I could sleep top bunk." Changbin offered.

"Thank you but it's fine. I'm already up here anyways." Felix said.

"If there was enough room, I would've asked you to sleep on the bottom bunk with me." Changbin said casually.

Felix choked on his spit as he blushed really hard. He took his pillow and swung it below him, hitting Changbin in the face. "Shut up."

"Wow Changbin how smooth ." Minho said sarcastically.

"Your flirting attempts are just sad." Hyunjin said making Jisung laugh.

"Sorry I don't flirt with every person I see, like you do." Changbin rolled his eyes.

"I mean his flirting attempts succeeded though because Felix blushed like crazy." Seungmin exposed his purple haired friend.

Felix felt betrayed at the fact that his own friend had just outed him out like that. His facial expression just made Jisung laugh even more.

"What do you think Jisung." Seungmin asked as he slung his arm around his shoulder.

"Mmm I don't know." Jisung crossed his arms.

"Jisung's the only friend I can trust." Felix concluded.

"You can definitely see in Felix's eyes that he secretly wished the bed was bigger so he could sleep and cuddle with Changbin's." Jisung said making everyone laugh but one laugh stood out to him. He's never heard it before.

Jisung looked around the room and realized that it was Minho's laugh. Jisung's never seen Minho smile let alone heard him laugh. It was the most beautiful thing he's ever heard and he just wanted to listen to Minho laugh all day.

_Wait what am I saying? Am I going crazy? Why am I thinking about Minho like this?_

Felix's groan drew Jisung back from his thoughts. "I'm done with you guys, good night."

They all laughed again at Felix's embarrassment.

"If it makes you feel any better, Changbin's most definitely thinking the same thing." Hyunjin said which earned a glare from Changbin and a laugh from Felix.

After everyone calmed down, they all decided to go to sleep too. Jisung climbed to the top bunk and lied down. Everyone else got in their beds too.

Jisung drifted off to sleep with Minho's beautiful laugh replaying in his mind while he was thinking, _What is wrong with me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> this chapter is so incredibly long oh my gosh.
> 
> yay changlix is finally together!! sorry if it seemed a little rush, i just wanted them to get together fast so i can actually give you some minsung content 
> 
> but we also saw a little minsung action. now that changlix is together i'm gonna be focusing on minsung now and other ships ;) sooo yippee. 
> 
> anyways i hope you liked this chapter.
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- he wants to be partners with who???


	16. f i f t e e n .

_Jisung drifted off to sleep with Minho's beautiful laugh replaying in his mind while he was thinking, What is wrong with me?_

Jisung was woken up from Seungmin's loud ass.

"Jisung get up! It's time for breakfast." Seungmin yelled in Jisung's ear.

The half awake boy flinched and covered his ears. He groaned and rolled around in his bunk. "Why do you have to yell?"

"Because then I'll know for sure that you're awake." Seungmin laughed, climbing back down from Jisung's bunk. "Hurry up. Everyone else already went to eat breakfast." He clapped his hands.

Jisung shot up from his bed when he heard that, glaring at the other male. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"I tried but you seemed to be in a really deep sleep so you didn't wake up. Also you don't even eat breakfast so I told the others to go ahead and that I'll stay behind to let you sleep in a little more." Seungmin rolled his eyes. "You're welcome."

"But aren't you gonna eat breakfast?"

"Yeah so hurry up before it's too late."

Jisung hurried and got ready before he grabbed Seungmin's hand and dragged them to the building.

"Look who finally decided to wake up." Felix commented when Jisung and Seungmin got to the table causing everyone to look up at the two. Seungmin looked wide awake but Jisung, on the other hand, still looked exhausted.

Jisung rolled his eyes as he slumped in the seat next to Minho, resting his head in his arms that were crossed on the table. "Shut up Felix." He mumbled out which made Felix snicker.

Everyone got their meal and Jisung of course didn't eat anything since he doesn't eat breakfast. During the entire time, Minho didn't even spare a glance at Jisung. It was almost as if the boy wasn't even there. Even when Jisung would participate in the conversation, Minho didn't take the time to look at him. Of course this was typical Minho behavior but Jisung would've thought he would at least acknowledge his existence. Especially after they shared dinner last night, but obviously Minho didn't care and wasn't going to all of a sudden change his attitude.

At the end of breakfast the teacher started talking through the speakers. "Ok everyone, today's the day that we will start doing all the activities. Today, half of the students here will start off with partner activities while the other half of the students will do something from the choices given. Tomorrow you will switch and the students who did partner activities today, will do choices tomorrow and vice versa. If your cabin number is in the first half then you're doing partner activities first. For partner activities you will obviously need a partner and it has to be someone from your cabin." When everyone heard the last sentence they all groaned.

"I wanted to be partners with Hyunjin."

"Why can't Minho be my partner."

"This isn't fair."

"I want to be with Stray Kids."

Everyone complained which confused Jisung because even if the students were able to choose their partners, what made them think that Stray kids would want to be partners with them? If anything they would be partners with each other, not with some annoying and obsessed leech. Jisung also didn't understand why they would even want to be partners with them in the first place. Stray Kids were intimidating as fuck he couldn't think of a reason why the students would do that to themselves.

The teacher ignored the complaints and continued, "You can be with your cabin group but you will complete the activity with your partner. Go to the back of the camp to get instructions on your first activity. If your cabin number is the last half then you get to choose from the options given. There are papers everywhere that has all the options you can choose from. When the horns are blown, that indicates that it is time for lunch and after we eat you will go back to where you left off until you are told that you can go to free time. When the horn blows again then it's time for dinner and after dinner we'll have a campfire. Ok any questions?"

No one raised their hands or spoke which was definitely the quietest it has ever been in the lunch building. Usually it was as louder than a concert in here and people would have to basically shout over each other to be heard by their friends.

"Great now go." The teacher dismissed the students.

Jisung, Seungmin and Felix gathered together while Changbin, Minho and Hyunjin gathered together.

"I'm guessing you're gonna be with Changbin." Seungmin looked at Felix.

Felix turned a light shade of pink as he nodded, "Yeah. He asked me to be his partner while the teacher was talking."

"Great, so me and Seungmin can be partners." Jisung concluded, thinking there was going to be no room for discussion,

Seungmin raised his eyebrows at Jisung, "I was actually thinking that you could be partners with Minho."

"Why the hell were you thinking that?" Jisung glared.

Felix thought for a second and nodded his head, "I think Seungmin's got a great idea."

Jisung was speechless. He looked back and forth, between his two friends to see if they were messing with him. When neither of them said anything back to him and just stared, Jisung realized they were being dead serious. "Woah woah woah woah, what? I thought you weren't gonna talk to any of the gang members during this camp trip?" He said to Seungmin.

"I wasn't but I'm sacrificing my original plan for you because this is your chance to prove to him that his first impressions of you are wrong." Seungmin said.

"Or this is a chance for him to hate me even more?! It's ok, I don't want you to sacrifice your original plan for me."

"No, but you need it."

The boy narrowed his eyes. "Says who?"

"Us" Both his friends said to him simultaneously.

"You guys can't be serious? You're joking, right?" Jisung raised his eyebrows at his friends, hoping that they would just stop playing this prank on him.

"You wish we were joking, but I've never been more serious in my life." Seungmin stared at Jisung and Felix nodded along.

"Why do you guys even care if he hates me or not? I'm perfectly fine with him hating me. I don't care about him, so you shouldn't either." Jisung scoffed, crossing his arms.

Felix and Seungmin looked at each other and scoffed, "We care because you obviously care about him so we need you to prove to him that he should care about you too." Felix explained.

Jisung gave a confused look, "What're you guys talking about? I don't care about him at all."

"Yeah right. We saw you share your dinner plate with him yesterday."

"I was just being nice." Jisung brushed off.

"Being nice is offering to share your dinner once, but you just kept in insisting that he should eat some of your food and you didn't stop insisting until he gave in. I saw how you smiled when he finally agreed to eat some food. That's called caring for someone. I'm pretty sure he doesn't even hate you because if he did then he wouldn't have eaten from the same plate as you and shared the same bunk as you." Seungmin pointed out.

Jisung knew what he was doing when he did it, but hearing someone say it out loud made his cheeks flush. He honestly didn't think anyone would notice what he did. "What makes you even think that he would be ok with being partners with me. He doesn't trust anyone other than his gang. Why would he want to be partners with me when he could be partners with Hyunjin?" Jisung made a good argument. There was no way that Minho would voluntarily be partners with him.

As if on que, Minho, Hyunjin and Changbin walked towards them. Hyunjin walked up next to Seungmin and casually said "Let's be partners Seungmin."

Jisung was shocked to say the least. It seemed like the universe was playing a joke on him. r maybe he was jinxing himself. Seungmin looked at Jisung who had a look of fear in his eyes because he knew exactly what kind of power his friend had and what he was most likely going to say. Jisung shook his head, mouthing _'Don't you dare' _to Seungmin. He gave the taller the best pleading eyes he could to help convince him to say no.

Seungmin thought for a moment and then smiled at Jisung before turning his head to Hyunjin, "Sure why not."

Jisung's jaw dropped as he glared at Seungmin which resulted in the latter laughing. _'You are seriously dead to me.'_ Jisung mouthed to his friend. Seungmin just stuck his tongue out at Jisung, causing Felix to laugh at his childish friends.

"I guess that makes us partners." Jisung awkwardly said to Minho who had his arms crossed. He looked really annoyed for some reason, probably because he has to hang out with Jisung for the rest of the day.

Minho barely even glanced at Jisung. "Yeah whatever." He walked ahead to the back of the camp. 

This was the first time he spoke to Jisung at all today and it was already eleven in the morning. Jisung wanted to dig a hole and jump in it. It's eight in the morning and Minho is already being a bitch to him and it's only going to get worse. This just further proved his point of Minho absolutely hating his guts. Jisung turned to Seungmin and Felix, who had smiles of encouragement on their face, and glared at them both before he walked to keep up with Minho.

The six of them started to walk towards the back of the camp like they were supposed to do. When they arrived it was crowded with a lot of students as usual. Jisung thought it would be less crowded since only half of the camp students were there but there was still a lot of people and it was overwhelming.

The teacher who was in charge of this activity talked into the mic at the front. "Ok for our first activity/game, is a scavenger hunt. You and your partner will get a paper with a list of items you need to find. Whoever finds all the items the fastest will win a prize. When I blow the whistle I want everyone to meet back here. You can start once you get a piece of paper."

Someone handed Jisung a stack of papers. He looked closer at it and realized it was the list of items. He handed a piece of paper to Minho, who obviously didn't want it, and passed the rest of the stack to Felix.

"This is the dumbest thing ever." Minho grumbled as he started walking. "Do you care if are the winners of this?"

Jisung shook his head and softly said, "No not really."

"Good cause I wasn't gonna try to look for these items." Minho replied causing Jisung to secretly roll his eyes.

_Why'd you even ask me if you weren't going to do it in the first place?_

Jisung and Minho were walking around the camp site quietly for a few minutes. Jisung was too scared to talk to the other so they walked in silence for the majority of it. Somehow they ended up at the lake that Jisung and Seungmin walked around from the day before when Felix was talking with Changbin.

"How come you aren't partners with Hyunjin?" Jisung finally built up the courage to say, hoping it wasn't a question that would earn him a punch. The crack of a stick breaking filled the air as Jisung stepped on it.

"Hyunjin wanted to be partners with Seungmin so he can flirt with him. I had no choice but to be partners with you." Minho said as if he was irritated.

Jisung ignored how harsh the last part sounded, "Good luck to Hyunjin because Seungmin's not very fond of him so he's not gonna fall for his tricks."

Minho scoffed, "Trust me, he will. That's what everyone says at first but once they see Hyunjin wink at them, their knees get weak and they squeal, falling in love."

Jisung shook his head as he stopped at the end of the dock, "Seungmin's stubborn. From the many years I've known him, I don't think he's ever actually liked anyone in his life. Hyunjin's definitely not gonna change that."

"Why are you so sure? Is Seungmin scared of Hyunjin? Is that it?" Minho appeared next to him.

Jisung laughed out loud, "Seungmin? Being scared? That's a sentence I've never heard anyone say in my entire life. Seungmin is scared of absolutely nothing." He said as he sat down on the edge of the dock. His shoes didn't touch the water and Jisung was really grateful for that. Now he could swing his legs without having to worry about splashing the water.

"What about you?" Minho sat down next to Jisung.

That question caught Jisung off guard. "W-What about me?" He mentally kicked himself for stuttering. How many more times is he going to stutter in front of him?

"Are you scared of me?" Minho's voice got deep and serious. Jisung felt shivers run down his spine and he didn't know if it was from Minho's voice or the cold breeze. The boy looked at Minho and saw that he was staring intently at him, waiting for the answer.

Jisung looked away and thought about the question. Of course he was scared of Minho, but he didn't want to seem _that_ vulnerable to the other male. Jisung suddenly got a boost of confidence and looked directly in Minho's eyes, shrugging.

"I don't know, should I?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. i'm sorry if my explanations in this chapter didn't make sense. you can use your imagination lmao.
> 
> this chapter's kind of bland, im sorry, but next chapter is gonna be A LOT more eventful hehe. stay tuned~
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- minho makes the worst decision of his life
> 
> using my next chapter hints, tell me what do you think is gonna happen in the next chapter bc i'm really curious :)


	17. s i x t e e n .

_"Are you scared of me?" Minho was staring intently at Jisung._

_Jisung suddenly got a boost of confidence and looked directly in Minho's eyes,_

_"I don't know, should I?"_

Minho opened his mouth to answer but the sound of a whistle rang through their ears, indicating that it was time to go back and meet up with the rest.

Jisung snapped back into reality and quickly stood up and walked back, his face heating up from the scenario that just happened. The walk was silent as neither of them talked since Jisung was five feet ahead of Minho.

When they arrived at the back of the camp, Jisung saw two people standing with the teacher. He guessed that those were the two people who found all their items first.

"Ok students be quiet. These two are the ones that found all their items the quickest. Say your names." The teacher gave the mic to the first dude.

"Uh Jaemin." He passed the mic to his friend, "Jeno." His friend said.

"Congrats guys. Your prize is that you two can get some king sized candy." The two boys looked really excited.

"Ok students, we have another activity set up but I think we should do it after lunch. Lunch is going to be served really soon so just hang out until the horn is blown."

Jisung walked towards where Felix and Seungmin were standing while Minho walked towards where Changbin and Hyunjin were standing.

"What happened with you and Minho?" Felix asked as soon as Jisung walked to them.

"He definitely hates me." Jisung concluded.

"What do you mean?"

"He seemed like he was really irritated and he didn't really talk to me at all." Jisung shrugged.

"What else happened?" Seungmin anticipated more information.

"That's all. Nothing else happened." Jisung lied. He didn't want to tell them what happened at the lake because he was too embarrassed.

"Lame." Seungmin said with disappointment .

"What did you do for him to hate you so much?" Felix wondered out loud.

"I literally didn't do anything. I tried to make conversation but every time I opened my mouth he seemed like he wanted to duck tape it shut."

Seungmin and Felix chuckled. "This is helpless. You're helpless."

"How about you Seungmin. How was Hyunjin?" Jisung quickly changed the subject.

Seungmin snorted, "He tried to flirt with me multiple times. He was being nice but I'm pretty sure it was a sort of flirting technique. Some of his pick up lines were ridiculous but he's actually kind of funny."

Felix and Jisung looked at each other, "Oh boy, don't tell me that _you're_ falling for his flirting attempts too!" Felix gasped dramatically.

Seungmin rolled his eyes and smacked Felix's shoulder, "As if. I'm saying that he's not a bad person to hang around. That doesn't mean I like him. He's a player, I would never fall for him."

"Hm you never know. Maybe you'll change him." Jisung said.

"Yeah right, this isn't some cliché teenage romance movie." Seungmin scoffed. "I'm not even interested in him."

The horn started blowing before Felix or Jisung could comment on what Seungmin said. They walked towards the food building to eat lunch. After everyone ate, they were dismissed to go back to what they were doing before. The six boys walked back to the back of the camp. Jisung unwillingly stood next to Minho since they were partners.

"Alright students, first I want you to distinguish who's going to be partner A and who's going to be partner B." The teacher said.

Jisung turned to Minho, "Uh you can be partner A and I'll be partner B. Unless you want to be B."

"I'll just be partner A." Minho said as if he didn't want to talk to the other male any longer.

"Ok cool." Jisung said awkwardly.

"I want partner A to come up here and grab a blindfold from these boxes." The teacher said.

Minho walked up and of course all the students split apart, making way for Minho so he didn't have to wait to grab a blindfold.

After they got the blindfolds, the teacher spoke again, "I want partner A to put the blindfolds on." 

Everyone was confused as to where this going but nonetheless partner A put the blindfolds on.

"Partner B this is where you come in. I want you to guide your blindfolded partner to and through the obstacle course with just your words. You cannot touch them and lead them through it. You have to use your words to guide them. This is not a competition, it is just to test your teamwork and your trust for each other. When you're done with the obstacle, return the blindfolds and you're allowed to do whatever you want until dinner. You may now start."

"Oh god." Jisung said once the teacher blew the whistle.

"Jesus fucking christ." Minho mumbled.

"Don't worry, just trust me." Jisung said which was kind of ironic. The gang member scoffed.

Jisung was confident that he would be able to get Minho to the obstacle course safely since it wasn't very far. He just hoped he would be able to guide Minho through the course safely too.

"Ok turn around and walk." Jisung instructed. Minho hesitated at first, but he eventually followed each instruction Jisung gave. Safely the two made it towards the obstacle course.

When Jisung saw the obstacle course he wanted to jump. "What the fuck." Jisung said in disbelief.

"What?" Minho asked, not knowing if he actually wanted to know.

"Uh, so the obstacle course I have to lead you through is um, elevated." Jisung revealed.

Minho tensed up. "Oh fuck no. I'm not doing this bullshit. Especially when _you're_ guiding."

The last sentence hurt Jisung a little but he couldn't blame Minho for saying that. "It's ok, the obstacles aren't hard. There's also padding on the floor if you do fall, but don't worry, I'll make sure you won't fall." Jisung reassured.

Minho didn't move. He didn't want to. He didn't know if he trusted Jisung enough to walk through an elevated obstacle course while blindfolded and it didn't help that he also had the worst fear of heights. You wouldn't expect a gang member to be afraid of anything but surprise, one of the very few fears Minho has, is heights.

"Minho you have to trust me. I promise I'll get you through this safely." Jisung tried to convince him.

Minho sighed, "Fine, but I swear to god, if I fall I'm going to make you regret it."

Jisung was taken aback. He didn't actually expect Minho to agree. He thought that he would have to try to convince him for at least a few more minutes. Of course he was extra nervous now that Minho threatened him.

"Ok we're at the ladder. You just need to climb up. Wait let me go first." Jisung quickly climbed up the ladder. "Ok climb."

Minho slowly climbed up the ladder and stood next to Jisung, waiting for his next set of instruction. The brown haired male quickly walked through the first obstacle and turned around to guide Minho through it.

"Minho the first obstacle are these wood planks that are a step away from each other. You just gotta walk straight across it." Jisung yelled to Minho.

Minho hesitantly stuck his leg out feeling for the first plank. When he found it he slowly walked on top of it.

"Good now the next one is right in front of it." Jisung guided.

Minho used the same technique as before. Sticking his leg out, feeling for the next plank and walking on top of it once he finds it. This continued for the next three planks before he finally made it to the end where Jisung was.

"See? It wasn't that bad." Jisung said, trying to calm him down.

Minho let out a big breath he was holding in. "Speak for yourself bitch." Even though Minho was blindfolded, Jisung could feel his cold glare.

The latter rolled his eyes, glad that Minho couldn't see. "There's two more obstacles."

Minho groaned, "Oh my fucking god."

Jisung quietly laughed as he walked through the next obstacle. "Ok Minho the next one is a long ass log. There's a rope that you can hold onto while you walk across the log."

"You've got to be kidding me." Minho mumbled to himself. He reached out for the rope and cautiously walked onto the log.

"Now you have to walk across the log carefully." Jisung instructed.

_No shit. _Minho rolled his eyes as he slowly walked across the log, taking a break every once in a while to take a breathe and rethink his life decisions. In the end he safely made it to where Jisung was standing.

Minho exhaled, "I never want to do this again. I wish I never agreed to being partner A."

Jisung snorted at what he said. "I'm doing a great job at guiding you though. You haven't fallen."

"We'll see about that." Minho mumbled.

Jisung ignored his comment and walked through the last obstacle. "This is definitely the most challenging one."

"Oh, just what I wanted." Minho sarcastically said.

"Um it's basically one of those unsupported and loose bridge things. There's a thin rope that you can hold onto on each side."

Minho mentally cursed. He grabbed the thin rope in both hands as he put his foot on the first wood plank.

"Ok you're doing good. The next wood plank is a step away." Minho put his other leg on top of the second wood plank. He continued to go in a slow manner.

Everything was going well until he was in the middle of the bridge. The gust of wind passed and swayed the bridge, freaking Minho out in the process. He was terrified that the bridge was going to flip and he would fall to his death.

"Oh fuck." Minho quickly halted.

"Come on Minho, you're half way there. You can do it. You're not going to fall." Jisung tried to encourage.

Minho didn't answer back. At this point, he didn't know if the bridge was shaking from the wind or from him. He couldn't move any further. His breathing increased and his chest pumped in and out at a fast pace. He was too scared and Jisung didn't know what to do. He's never seen Minho so scared and vulnerable. Jisung didn't know that Minho could be afraid of anything but he definitely didn't expect him to be afraid of heights.

"Minho move to the next step." Jisung nicely urged on.

The gang member didn't move. He couldn't. "I-I can't."

He was about to pull his blindfold off to continue through the rest of the bridge without his blindfold but he felt someone's hands gently touch both of his wrists.

"Stop, don't give up Minho. Don't be scared, you're fine. I'm here and I would never let you fall." Jisung said softly to Minho.

Jisung's soothing voice and warm his touch somehow calmed Minho down. He felt his breathing slowly go back to normal.

"Just focus on my voice and trust me." Jisung softly said again.

Minho took a deep breath and nodded his head, telling Jisung to continue. "Okay, I trust you."

Jisung smiled and slowly removed his hands from Minho but Jisung didn't go back to the end platform. He was right in front of Minho, slowly going through the rest for the bridge with him, making sure to reassure Minho every few seconds.

When they finally got on the end platform, Minho immediately reached to his head to pull off his blindfold but Jisung was quick to stop him.

"Wait! Don't take it off yet. Wait until you get down."

"What why?" Minho questioned, he just wanted to rip that thing off his eyes.

"Just don't."

"Okay... Fine." Minho's took his hands off the blindfold.

Jisung slowly led him down the ladder. "Ok now you can take it off."

Minho immediately took off his blindfold. He squinted at the suddenly brightness. "I'm never doing that again." Jisung laughed.

"Why'd you want me to take my blindfold off when we got down?" Minho questioned.

"I just didn't want you to see how far up we were and then freak out again." Jisung said embarrassed.

Minho smiled. "Thanks for not killing me."

Jisung was shocked. _Was Minho really thanking me? That's unheard of._

Jisung smiled back, "Of course. I don't want all your fans to kill me."

Minho scoffed. "Come on, let's return the blindfold."

They returned the blindfold and walked around the camp site for the remainder of the time.

"How are you?" Minho asked out of nowhere.

The question made Jisung confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how are your ribs and stomach?"

Jisung stayed confused until he realized that Minho was talking about the incident. "I had a broken rib that was puncturing my lungs which made it hard for me to breath, but I'm fine now. My stomach was bruised really badly. I had to be on meds for some time but I just got off of them." Jisung explained.

"What about your arms?" Minho looked at the other's forearm but the skin was covered by the fabric of Jisung's shirt.

"My arms?" Jisung looked down at his arms, confused.

"They were bleeding when I saved you."

"Oh! The two guys holding me dug their nails into my skin, but the doctor took care of it and now it's healed. There's a very faint scar but it'll go away." Jisung pulled his sleeves and showed Minho the fading scars.

"Well at least you're ok." Minho said.

Something didn't sit right with Jisung about this whole situation. When he thanked Minho, the gang member lashed out at him, but now he's asking if the brown haired boy is ok? Sure Minho's been rude to Jisung during this trip but he hasn't lashed out at him yet _and_ Minho said with his own mouth that he trusted Jisung? That didn't make any sense. What caused the sudden change of heart and why wasn't Minho acting like the usual heartless guy he's known to be?

"How come you're being so nice?" Jisung asked before he could stop himself.

Minho wasn't expecting Jisung to ask him that. "What do you mean?" He looked at the other.

Jisung scoffed. "You know exactly what I mean Minho. At school, you throw a punch at someone for bumping into you. You're the most intimidating and terrifying person, so why are you so nice to me right now? The day I thanked you last week for saving me, you completely blew up but now you're asking me if I'm ok? This morning you barely even talked to me and when you did, you gave me short answers and acted like you dreaded being with me the entire time. Why the sudden change of heart? I'm seeing a whole new side of you and I don't know which is fake or not."

Minho stayed quiet, he was thinking about what he was going to say next. He too didn't know why he was acting like this. "How I'm acting right now is real, but the way I act at school isn't fake either. Confusing right? There's a reason for everything I do and I don't expect you to understand it. I try not get close with anyone other than my gang and usually, I don't give people any type of chance to talk to me or to come near me so that they won't have hope that they can get close to me. But after the whole obstacle course, I noticed there's just something about you that makes me trust you."

Jisung looked down, taking a second to comprehend the information. It just made him more confused. "You know, I thought you hated me. I always avoided you because I thought I was gonna do something wrong and set off a trigger in your brain that would cause you to hurt me or something."

"I'm not going to hurt you Jisung. I don't hurt people I trust." Minho reassured.

"If you trust me then why'd you act like such a dick to me before."

Minho sighed, "Like I said before, I act like that so that people don't have a chance to get near me but after our circumstances and the fact that you're such a stubborn person, it was almost inevitable."

Jisung took a few moments to register everything Minho had told him. There were still some unanswered questions he had. _Why doesn't he want anyone to get close to him__? __It definitely doesn't have anything to do with the fact that he's in a gang because the rest of Stray Kids don't act like that, so w__hy does he keep this front when he's actually a decent guy?_

"No." Minho said out of nowhere which brought Jisung from his deep thoughts.

Jisung looked at Minho with confused eyes. "No what?"

"No you shouldn't be scared of me." Minho replied.

Jisung stayed confused for a second before he remembered the scene at the lake. "Why shouldn't I?" Jisung questioned.

"Cause I actually trust you." Minho looked at Jisung.

Jisung felt his face heat up and he quickly looked down. _Why does he make me feel this way? Why is my heart beating so fast? Why is it fluttering? Why does he give me butterflies in my stomach?_

The horn blew.

Jisung quietly thanked god for saving him from this moment because he knew he would've embarrassed himself if the moment lasted seconds longer. They quickly made their way to the food building and Jisung saw that the other two pairs were already sitting at the table talking with each other.

"Finally, took you guys long enough." Hyunjin said when the Jisung and Minho sat at the table.

"Shut up, we didn't even take that long." Minho jokingly rolled his eyes, causing Hyunjin and Changbin to snort. Felix and Seungmin on the other hand, stared intently at Jisung but the latter acted like he didn't feel their stare.

They started talking about random stuff when the server brought their food. Minho declined again and of course Jisung noticed.

"You aren't eating again?" Jisung asked.

Minho shook his head.

"Why not?"

"I was hoping you would share your plate with me."

Jisung choked on his spit and he started coughing, catching everyone's attention.

"Drink some water dumbass." Seungmin said and Jisung reached for his cup.

"Jisung, you good?" Felix asked the red boy.

"Yep." Jisung peeped out. Both his friends gave him a weird stare before they went back to eating their food. Minho was secretly laughing.

"You're lucky I don't eat a lot." Jisung mumbled as he pushed his plate towards Minho. The latter smiled.

Felix and Seungmin smirked at each other when they saw what was going on.

After dinner was over, it was time for the campfire. There was two different fires since there were so many students and not everyone would be able to fit around one.

The six of them sat at one log and the other students tried to sit near them or at least sit at the same campfire they were sitting at. A bunch of angry students were forced to sit at the other campfire since the one Stray Kids was sitting at got full. From right to left sat Minho, Jisung, Felix, Changbin, Seungmin, and Hyunjin.

They sat a bit far from the fire because they didn't want to get overheated but that also caused Jisung to start to shiver a little. Minho noticed and took off his hoodie to give to Jisung.

"I'm ok Minho. You can wear it." Jisung rejected.

Minho scoffed, "Bullshit, I can see you shivering. I'm fine Jisung, just wear the damn hoodie."

Jisung sighed and gave in because he gettin really cold. He put on the jacket and instantly felt the warm fabric hug his skin. "Thank you." Minho nodded.

Jisung yawned, the sudden warmth made him really tired. He subconsciously leaned his head on Minho's shoulder and closed his eyes. Minho was surprised by the action but he didn't mind. He looked down at Jisung and saw him peacefully sleeping on his shoulder. Minho smiled at the sight. He took this time to observe and appreciate the features on Jisung's face. The way his eyelashes rested on his cheeks. The way his lips pouted when he was sleeping.

_What are you doing to me Han Jisung? _Minho thought to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> i honestly didn't think i was going to update this week but i found out that writing calmed me down and made me feel a bit better about the situation so i wrote whenever i could.
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this chapter. i'm sorry if you got confused with some of the way i described stuff but if you did then use your imagination ! it'll probs be better then what i imagined.
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- ah shit here we go again pt 2  
\- he admits it
> 
> using my hints, tell me what do you think is gonna happen in the next chapter, i'm curious :)


	18. s e v e n t e e n .

**say the name**

  
-

"Wake up!" Seungmin yelled in Jisung's ear again.

Jisung groaned and sat up in his bed, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. When he was fully conscious, he realized that he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Jisung was still wearing the hoodie that Minho gave him yesterday. The boy felt the heat rise to his cheeks as he thought about the memory.

_Did I fall asleep on him?__ Please no._ Jisung silently prayed.

"Hey Seungmin?" He called out.

His friend hummed in response.

"...You don't happen to know what happened yesterday at the campfire... Do you?" Jisung asked, not knowing if he actually wanted to know the answer.

Seungmin smirked, "You mean what happened after Minho gave you his sweatshirt and you fell asleep on his shoulder?"

Jisung blushed at the mention, "Y-yeah."

"Well, Minho was admiring your face for a few seconds before he told everyone that he was gonna carry you back to the cabin so you could sleep comfortably on the bed." Seungmin replied.

Jisung blushed even harder at that. "H-he carried me back to the cabin?"

Seungmin nodded, smirking at the other male's reaction, "Look at what you're doing to Lee Minho."

"What do you mean?"

Seungmin scoffed, "I've never seen Minho act so soft towards anyone. Not even to his gang members. I didn't think it was possible. Even Changbin and Hyunjin were shocked at the way he was acting towards you."

"It's nothing. Minho was just being nice, we're just friends." Jisung brushed the topic off.

"You know damn well that Minho would never carry Changbin or Hyunjin to the cabin just because they fell asleep on his shoulder. He wouldn't even give them the chance to lay their head on his shoulder." Seungmin crossed his arms.

"Is everyone at breakfast already?" Jisung quickly switched the topic.

Seungmin knew what Jisung was doing. The boy didn't want to admit anything so he was changing the topic. Jisung used this technique too much because he's stubborn like that and didn't like to acknowledge that he's wrong. Seungmin just learned to deal with it and let it go. "Yeah." He answered. "So hurry up and get ready because your boyfriend's waiting for you."

Jisung rolled his eyes, "He's not my boyfriend."

Seungmin snorted, "Not yet."

Jisung ignored that comment and got ready. They walked towards the food building. When the two arrived at the table Jisung saw that everyone got their food already, but of course he didn't mind since he doesn't eat breakfast. Jisung noticed that there was a plate in Seungmin's seat. He internally snorted, _Hyunjin probably got him that._

"How'd you sleep?" Minho asked Jisung the moment he sat down next to him.

It caught Jisung off guard. Even though they might've shared a tiny moment together yesterday, Jisung expected Minho to ignore him today, just like he did the morning before. He was kind of notorious for that, but maybe they really were becoming friends.

"I slept great. Thanks for lending me your jacket and uh, sorry I fell asleep on your shoulder." Jisung looked down to hide his red face. "You should've woken me up. I feel bad that you had to carry me back to the cabin."

"Don't worry about it, I didn't mind. Also I didn't want to wake you up from your peaceful sleep. You seemed exhausted." Minho looked at Jisung and shrugged.

There it was again. Jisung felt his heart flutter and he just couldn't understand why. Why was it whenever he made eye contact with Minho, his heart skipped a beat. Why were there butterflies in his stomach?

Jisung ignored the feeling in his stomach and smiled at Minho, "I wouldn't have mind if you woken me up, but thanks again."

Minho lightly chuckled, "Stop thanking me."

Jisung playfully rolled his eyes.

"How come you aren't eating?" Minho asked and if Jisung didn't know any better than he would've thought that Minho was concerned for him.

"Oh I never eat breakfast. I don't get hungry until lunch." Jisung shrugged.

Jisung could've sworn he saw Minho frown for a split second but when he looked back at Minho, he just nodded and continued to eat his food.

_I'm probably just seeing things. It's too early anyways. _He convinced himself.

When breakfast was over, the teacher started talking in the mic. Reminding the students where they're supposed to go to. The six of them stood up, about to walk outside to find the paper that listed all the choices they could choose from, when out of nowhere a pair of girls walked up to them and roughly pushed Seungmin and Jisung aside.

Jisung being the clumsy person he is, lost his balance and fell on the floor, yelping. Seungmin and Felix were fast to rush over to Jisung.

"Are you ok?" Felix asked worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't expect to be pushed." Jisung said standing up, shaking himself off.

Right when Jisung and Seungmin were pushed away, Minho and Hyunjin attempted to go to the two to check if they were ok, but the two girls were blocking them from doing so. Minho didn't feel like dealing with their bullshit and just wanted to check on Jisung as soon as possible.

"Move." Minho said harshly.

"Oppa, we want to hang with you three today and I guess Changbin's boyfriend can hang out with us too. Those other two were in our way." The two girls glared Seungmin and Jisung. 

"Move now." It was Hyunjin speaking this time.

Instead of moving, the girls reached out their hands and tried to link their arms with Hyunjin and Minho, but the boys pulled their arms away before the girls could touch them and pushed past them, brutally bumping past their shoulders.

"You're lucky I don't hit girls." Minho growled as he passed by them.

By the time Minho arrived to where Jisung was, Jisung had just stood up from his fallen position. "Are you ok?" Minho looked at him with worry.

"Yeah I'm fine. I just didn't see that coming." Jisung lightly laughed.

He noticed that Minho was still a little worried about him. "Minho, stop worrying about me. They didn't even push me that hard, I'm just clumsy so I fell. I promise I'm perfectly fine."

Minho sighed, his worry quickly turned into anger towards the two girls. His eyes turned dark and Jisung of course noticed this too. He placed his hand on Minho's shoulder. "Minho, relax. I'm fine. Forget about them." Jisung said in a soothing voice.

His voice seemed to have calmed Minho down because Minho's eyes turned back to the way they usually were. "Come on let's go check out what choices they have." Jisung grabbed Minho's wrist and pulled him. He could feel the scars on his wrists. It was very prominent and deep but it felt fully healed so it was probably an old scar. From what though?

Jisung dismissed this thought once they arrived at the paper that listed the choices. "Let's go zip lining!" Jisung's said excitedly.

Minho was hesitant to agree since he hates heights but he saw how excited Jisung was so he complied. "Ok."

Jisung's eyes lit up and that's when the others came. "Let's go zip lining guys." Jisung said to Felix and Seungmin.

They both got really excited and quickly agreed. Changbin's heart melted when he saw his boyfriend being all smiley and happy.

While they were walking towards the zip line, Jisung couldn't help but think about what just happened. He was very surprised by the girls' braveness. They were definitely from YG High School. No one ever dared to talk to Minho, Changbin and Hyunjin let alone try to grab their hands. Everyone's too scared and also weren't dumb enough to risk it. Jisung's thoughts were interrupted when he saw the zip line. Surprisingly there weren't many people there.

"Woah, Minho zip lining? I would've never expected this to ever happen." Hyunjin said and Changbin agreed.

"What why?" Minho said defensively.

"You're terrified of heights. How'd you survive the obstacle course yesterday?" Hyunjin asked.

"I was perfectly fine going through that obstacle course." Minho narrowed his eyes.

Jisung snorted. "Yeah ok."

Everyone laughed at what Jisung said while Minho turned to Jisung with a look of betrayal on his face.

"Changbin you can't even laugh. You were scared too." Felix exposed which caused everyone to stare at Changbin.

"What! I was not!" Changbin protested.

Felix patted his shoulder, "Whatever you say babe."

It was finally their turn to ride the zip line. They climbed up to the top and Minho's breathing started to increase when he realized how high above the ground he was. Changbin pushed Minho slightly to scare him and Minho yelled while he dropped to the floor, causing everyone to laugh.

"I can't believe everyone at school is afraid of you." Jisung sighed.

Minho slowly got up, "This is the last time I'm letting you convince me to do stuff like this."

"We'll see about that." Jisung mumbled. "Hurry up! You're going first."

Minho wanted to protest but he realized that if he went first then he would be able to get off faster so he slowly got on the zip line, visibly shaking. His hands were sweating. "Count to three and then push me but wait, give me a second to prepare myself."

Hyunjin rolled his eyes, "Three." He said and pushed Minho.

Jisung laughed at Minho's scream. He jokingly slapped Hyunjin's shoulder.

Hyunjin flinched and laughed "What? He was taking too long and I was getting impatient."

"You're just like Seungmin." Jisung shook his head.

"I'm taking that as a compliment." Hyunjin smiled brightly.

After everyone went on the zip line, they walked to the lake. The six of them sat at the dock and talked about random topics like Minho's scream while riding the zip line. That's when the lunch horn blew.

After lunch Felix, Seungmin, and Jisung hung out while Changbin, Hyunjin, and Minho hung out. Jisung and his friends decided to walk around the woods.

"What's up with you and Minho?" Felix was the first to ask.

"What do you mean?" Jisung looked at Felix.

Felix gave a look to Jisung that said _'don't start with that bullshit'._

Jisung sighed, "I don't know. I asked him why he was being so nice to me all of a sudden and he said that he realized he could trust me and now he's this totally new human being. It weird but refreshing to know that he's not a bitch all the time."

Seungmin and Felix widened their eyes. "Jisung. He totally has feelings for you." Seungmin said.

Jisung shrugged. "I don't think so. We're just friends."

"He said he _trusts _you. Do you even know how much of an accomplishment that is? I've seen how he acts around you and how he looks at you, and you still think he doesn't like you?" Seungmin scoffed. "Imagine being that dumb." He said to Felix.

"He meant it as friends. We are just friends." Jisung huffed.

"Do you like him?" Felix asked.

Jisung thought for a moment. _Do I like him? Is that why my heart skips a beat every time he looks at me? Is that why I'm so happy around him? No__, i__t can't be. I can't like him. It'll go away soon._

"No I don't." Jisung answered. Felix and Seungmin sighed.

"You and Hyunjin have been getting really close." Jisung looked at Seungmin.

"He's funny." Seungmin shrugged. "We're just friends too."

"But do you like him?" Jisung asked.

"Maybe? I don't know." Seungmin said.

Jisung and Felix raised their eyebrows at Seungmin.

"What?!" Felix swore he misheard.

"I-I don't know." Seungmin kicked a rock.

Jisung gasped. "Seungmin stuttering? That's never happened before. You were probably the _one_ person who hated stray kids the most and would never have even thought about dating them because just the idea made you vomit. Now you're contemplating if you like one of them or not? Damn, what is Hyunjin doing to _you_?"

"I never said I hated them. I just thought they were extremely annoying."

"Oh even better." Jisung said sarcastically. "I'm still right about everything else though."

"He's a nice guy. He's also an idiot but he makes me laugh all the time. I'm just really happy whenever I'm around him. I'm trying not to catch feelings though." Seungmin sighed.

"Why not?" Felix asked even though he could guess why.

"Hyunjin's known to be flirty with everyone. I'm probably just another target for him. I don't want to fall for him and then be dropped once he finds someone else to flirt with... But I think it's too late." Seungmin mumbled the last part while he looked down.

"What do you mean?"

"I-I think I do like him."

Jisung looked at Seungmin with surprise. But by the look on Seungmin's face, He could tell that the poor boy was in a dilemma. He could tell that Seungmin didn't like the fact that he liked Hyunjin and it hurt Jisung's heart. He didn't like seeing his friend looking this down while crushing on someone. When you like someone you're supposed to be happy but he could see why Seungmin was feeling the opposite of happiness.

"Seungmin stop thinking about so negatively. I honestly think Hyunjin likes you too. I don't I've seen him as mad as he was when you got pushed by those girls." Jisung pointed out.

"That's true. He tried to rush to you when you got pushed but those bitches were in the way." Felix added on.

"I don't think so. He's just being nice. It's fine though, I'll try to ignore my feelings until they disappear." Seungmin continued walking.

Jisung sighed. Him and Felix were usually the stubborn ones while Seungmin was the reasonable one that actually listened but for some reason Seungmin was not wanting to listen to what Jisung and Felix were saying.

"How are you and Changbin?" Seungmin asked Felix.

"We're good. I kissed him yesterday." Felix said casually.

"Woah hold up. _You_ kissed _him_?" Seungmin asked for clarification.

"Yeah. He was freaking out over the the obstacle course so I kissed him to calm him down. It worked." Felix blushed at the memory.

"Gross, I think I'm gonna puke." Jisung faked puking sounds.

Felix rolled his eyes and lightly pushed Jisung, "Shut up."

Silence filled the air. It wasn't an awkward or an uncomfortable silence, it was a nice silence where the three of them were just enjoying each other's company.

"I wonder what Jeongin's doing right now." Felix thought out loud.

"He's probably dying right now because none of us are with him." Jisung snorted.

"Maybe he finally got the courage to talk to Yedam." Seungmin suggested. The three looked at each other and busted out laughing. "Nah I'm just playing. That definitely didn't happen."

They continued to talk until it was time to pack up. Little did they know, someone was listening to their conversation the whole time.

-

When Jisung, Felix and Seungmin arrived at the cabin to pack their stuff, the other three boys were already there.

Jisung didn't take that long to pack since he's very organized, so he rested on his bed until it was time to go.

Jisung was zipping his stuff up when Minho's head popped up.

"Hey Minho." Jisung smiled.

"Hey Jisung. Do you wanna sit next to me on the bus?" Minho asked.

Jisung thought about it for a second. He was sure that Felix was going to sit next to Changbin, and sitting with Minho would force Hyunjin and Seungmin to sit next to each other, so he agreed. "Sure why not. I might fall asleep on you again though."

Minho gave a smile, "Perfect."

-

On the bus, Minho and Jisung sat together and at the seats near them Hyunjin and Seungmin sat together and Changbin and Felix sat together.

Jisung could feel everyone's eyes on him while they got on the bus. "Oh no."

"What?" Minho looked at Jisung.

"Your fans are staring at me. They're definitely plotting to kill me for sitting next to you." Jisung half joked.

Minho snorted, "I'm sure they won't, I won't let them. But they're probably too scared to say anything after Changbin threatened them."

"I just want to go home. I'm so over this camp trip. I wanna sleep in my bed and I miss my siblings." Jisung ran his fingers through his hair.

"You seem close with your siblings." Minho observed.

"I guess you could say that. They basically raised me." Jisung shrugged.

Minho furrowed his eyebrows, "They raised you?"

Jisung nodded, "My parents travel a lot for their work so they were never home which forced my older brother and sister to take care of me."

Minho stayed silent, debating whether or not to tell Jisung about himself, "I don't have siblings. I wish I did though."

Jisung looked up at Minho, "You're an only child?"

"I guess you can say that."

"Do you want an older or younger sibling?"

Minho thought for a moment before saying "Either."

"You have Chan, Woojin, Hyunjin, Changbin, and Yedam though. They're basically your siblings." Jisung said.

Minho stayed silent for a second, "Yeah I guess you're right."

"Ya know Minho, I never imagined that you would be like this." Jisung said randomly, leaving Minho confused.

Minho looked at Jisung with an eyebrow raised. "Like what?"

"This sweet and funny guy that's terrified of heights. This whole time I thought you were heartless. I thought you didn't care about anyone and had no emotions. But in reality you're actually not a bad guy. You're caring and I can see how much you love Hyunjin and Changbin, even if you act like you're annoyed with them 24/7. You're respectful, which is kinda ironic since you're in a gang but I've learned to change my perspective on Stray Kids. You guys don't hurt innocent people, I guess that's a plus." Jisung rested his head on Minho's shoulder.

Jisung's little speech, made the gang member's heart skip a beat. Minho's feelings were all over the place and it was all because of someone that goes by the name Han Jisung.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you get a tiny tiny tiny bit of information about minho's life.
> 
> i was gonna have minho share his story about his scars but i thought it would be way too soon so not yet hehe i'm sorry.
> 
> anyways this chapter seems uneventful and i'm sorry it's kinda a filler chapter and its kind of boring, idk how i feel about it.
> 
> next chapter is gonna be interesting ;)
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- he's meeting him after school ???  
\- why is he helping them ???
> 
> using my hints, tell me what do you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	19. e i g h t e e n .

Jisung woke up before his brother could yell at him. He layed in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the last few days.

Jisung thought about his feelings towards Minho. What were they exactly? He was trying to make sense of it and he tried to come to a conclusion on why he was feeling these things. It honestly scared him. He had never felt this way towards anyone ever. No one in the world had this type of affect on him, so why Minho? What made Minho so special?

Jisung's brain started to hurt from thinking too much. He groaned covered his face with a pillow. 

Yesterday, Minho had told Jisung that this week, him and the gang weren't gonna be at school for the first half of the day since they had stuff to do. He said that they would arrive at school during lunch.

The news was bittersweet to Jisung. He was glad since he felt as though he needed a break from seeing Minho so he could get his feelings in order. Them not being at school for three hours played perfectly in his plan. On the other hand, Jisung was going to miss Minho during those three hours. His right side was going to feel empty without Minho's presence being there.

His thoughts were interrupted when Brian barged in his room. "Get up you're go- Oh you're awake already. How long have you been awake?"

"About 10 minutes."

"Why aren't you getting ready? What have you been doing for the past 10 minutes." Brian raised his eyebrows.

Jisung removed the pillows from his face and sighed. "Just thinking."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really. I also don't have enough time to tell you about it, I have to get ready for school." Jisung sat up in his bed.

Brian sighed and leaned against the door frame, "Jisung, you know you can talk to me about anything. I'm your older brother, you're supposed to come to me when you have problems so I can give you my wise advice."

Jisung laughed, "Yeah I know. I just need to get my thoughts organized first."

Brian nodded and left the room. "Get ready before you're late." He yelled out.

-

Jisung and Felix barely arrived to school on time. It was Jisung's fault, he was too distracted while he got ready. But they ended up arriving with five minutes to spare. Jeongin ran up to them, dragging Seungmin along.

"What took you guys so long?" Jeongin didn't sound too happy.

"Blame Jisung. He took forever to get ready." Felix blamed.

"Spill everything that happened now." The younger demanded.

"Jeongin, we have five minutes till class starts. That's definitely not enough time." Jisung stated.

"And guess who's fault that is?" Jeongin said bitterly.

Jisung glared. "We'll just tell you at lunch."

The younger groaned, "Fine."

Just then someone walked up to the four boys.

"Jeongin! We're meeting after school in the library right?" Yedam asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah we are!" Jeongin's cheeks turned a light pink when he saw who was talking.

"Ok cool, see you then." Yedam smiled and walked away to his friends.

Seungmin, Jisung and Felix all looked at Jeongin with their eyes wide open.

"What?" Jeongin acted like nothing happened.

"Don't 'what?' us! Why the hell are you meeting Yedam after school?" Seungmin asked.

**RING RING**

"Oh would you look at that! Gotta get to class." Jeongin quickly left his confused friends.

The three boys rolled their eyes and walked to class. When they entered everyone hushed and whispered to their friends, glancing at the three every so often.

Jisung looked at Seungmin and Felix with his eyebrows raised. They both looked at him and shrugged. The three boys quickly took their seats praying that the teacher will come in soon. Unfortunately the world was not on their side and the teacher was late.

Jisung and Felix turned around and faced Seungmin. "Why are they whispering? What did we do this time?"

"I don't know? We didn't even do anything." Seungmin shrugged.

"What're they whisp-"

"Hey guys."

The three boys quickly snapped their necks to whoever was speaking to them. It was the new kid. Jisung already forgot his name. Soomin? Soojin?

"Uh... hey?" Seungmin asked.

"How are you guys dealing with the whispering?" Soobin asked as he sat down next to Seungmin.

"We don't even know why they're whispering. Do you?" Jisung asked.

"Oh yeah I do. Everyone's just confused."

"Confused? About what?"

"How you guys managed to get close with Minho, Changbin, and Hyunjin during camp. They're saying stuff like 'They're the people who can talk to Stray Kids.' 'What makes those three so special?' 'Stray Kids doesn't talk to anyone other than their gang but why are they talking to those three?' 'How'd Felix get Changbin to date him? I wanna get Minho to date me.' And other stuff." Soobin spilled.

"Oh." Felix said.

Jisung was glad that the whispers weren't anything bad. He understood why everyone's confused, he was even confused and surprised too but he didn't really think about it that much.

"At least it's not anything bad, but it's annoying. Everyone's just staring at us. Can they just stop?" Seungmin said.

Soobin suddenly slammed his hand on the desk and stood up. The class turned dead silent as everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the new guy standing. "Can everyone stop whispering and staring at these three? I get that you're confused as to why Stray Kids is suddenly talking to them but if you're not going to grow some balls and ask them to their face about that then shut up and stop glancing at them and whispering to your friends because it's creepy and it's getting really annoying. If you have a problem with them then take it up with Stray Kids."

The class looked at the three students they were whispering about, with apologetic eyes. Everyone mumbled out a sorry and stopped staring at them. The class stayed silent. No one in the classroom was brave enough to ask the three boys and they were scared to talk.

Soobin sat back down satisfied.

"Well damn, if I knew that was going to work I would've done that a while ago." Seungmin high fived Soobin.

"Thanks for helping us, uh..." Jisung began.

"Soobin."

"Ah, thank you Soobin."

"Don't worry about it. It was annoying me too." He smiled

The teacher finally came. "Sorry for being late. Go back to your seats and get your history notebooks out."

-

It was finally lunch time. The first three classes felt longer than usual and Jisung had trouble focusing in class because of everything that happened today.

Even though the whispering stopped in the classroom, the hallways were a different story. When Jisung, Seungmin and Felix were waiting for Jeongin in the hallway, the whispering and staring didn't stop. Apparently news spreads really fast at school and everyone knew that they hung with Stray Kids at the camp.

"Uh you guys have a lot of explaining to do." Jeongin pointed at all three of them when he walked up to them.

"Let's eat on the roof. I don't want to eat with everyone staring at me." Felix suggested. Everyone agreed and walked up to the roof.

"Spill." Jeongin said once they sat down.

"Uh I think you should spill your story first." Seungmin said.

"I asked first."

"I don't care."

Jeongin huffed, "Fine. On Friday, when you guys left for camp, my teacher told me he needed to talk to me after school. I thought I was getting in trouble so I was pissing my pants the whole day."

"Get to the point." Jisung said impatiently.

Jeongin glared at Jisung which caused Jisung to throw his hands up in defense.

"Once school was over, I waited until everyone left the classroom and then I walked up to the teachers desk. I noticed there was another student there too and that's when I realized it was Yedam. The teacher asked me if I could tutor Yedam in math because Yedam doesn't want to fail like he almost did last year. The teacher also told me that he chose me to tutor Yedam because I exceeded in math last year. I froze at what he said because if I tutor Yedam that means that I'm going to be alone with him for an hour-"

"Which sounds like a dream come true for you." Felix snorted.

Jeongin glared before continuing, "I was about to decline because I didn't think I was going to be able to do that, but I looked at Yedam and his eyes were so desperate. His eyes were begging me to agree so I gave in because who wouldn't? That's what he meant by meeting in the library after school. We start our first session today." Jeongin explained with his cheeks gradually turning pink.

"Awwww Jeongin can finally make a move on Yedam." Felix pinched Jeongin's cheek, making the younger swat his hand away.

"Yeah right. He'll be too scared. He's probably gonna be stuttering the whole time." Seungmin snorted.

Jeongin glared at him and slapped his shoulder.

"The school year started like a month ago and he's already failing math?"

"He's not failing yet. But he's getting there."

"This is your chance to win him over with your charms and cuteness." Jisung said, making Jeongin roll his eyes. "If it goes well then maybe you can invite him to your house for a study session."

"Or he'll invite you to his." Felix wiggled his eyebrows.

Jeongin turned a deep red as he pushed Felix. "Shut up."

"Imagine if he invited you to his house oh my god." Seungmin said. "You would be going to the gang's home. A place that no one has ever been."

Jeongin shook his head in denial. "I doubt he would ever invite me to his house. There's a reason why no one has ever been to it."

"You never know, maybe you'll meet Chan and Woojin before any of us." Felix said.

"You could enter their house before Felix does." Seungmin snorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Felix looked at Seungmin.

"Oh come on, you're dating one of them. He's bound to invite to the house at some point." Seungmin rolled his eyes.

"Speaking of Felix and Changbin, What the fuck? You guys leave for three days and the whole school is freaking out because Felix is dating a gang member and you three managed to get close with the other three. Explain now." Jeongin crossed his arms.

Felix Jisung and Seungmin looked at each other, not knowing where to start or who should explain.

"Ok first we were given our cabin mates. Us three and Minho, Changbin and Hyunjin were assigned to the same cabin. When we arrived at the camp we went to our cabin and surprise, the other three were already there. Seungmin took our stuff and put them in the bunk because Felix was too much of a baby to go in there because Changbin was there. I noticed that Changbin was staring at Felix the whole time so when Seungmin came back to the door I pushed Felix inside the cabin and closed the door so he could talk to Changbin." Jisung started explaining.

"Yeah thanks for that, I almost fell in front of Changbin." Felix said sarcastically.

"Shut up I know you're glad I did that."

"True. Anyways I was in the cabin and I asked if I could talk to Changbin. The other two left and it was just me and Changbin. It was quiet at first until I apologized for not speaking to him and ignoring him. He said that I shouldn't be apologizing and that the rumors aren't true about him using me and stuff because he cares about me and then I asked how I'm supposed to know that he's not lying to me and he said because he likes me. He then confessed and I told him I liked him back. He then asked me to be his boyfriend and that's how I became Changbin's boyfriend." Felix bowed.

"Oh damn, who knew Changbin could be so soft." Jeongin said impressed.

"He even stopped Felix from having a panic attack and almost fought someone because they said something rude to Felix but Felix stopped him." Jisung added.

Jeongin's eyes went big, "No way."

Felix covered his face from embarrassment.

"Wow you got a keeper." Jeongin nudged Felix which cause the embarrassed boy to groan.

"Jisung shared his food with Minho at dinner." Seungmin continued.

"He did what now?" Jeongin turned to Jisung, wanting an explanation.

"Ok he didn't get a plate so I asked if he wasn't gonna eat. He said no and I said that he should eat because he'll be hungry later. He said he was fine but my stubborn ass didn't shut up and kept telling him to eat some of my food. He finally agreed."

"Doesn't he hate you?"

"That's what I thought too. The next day we had partner activities. Changbin and Felix were partners obviously. Hyunjin asked Seungmin to be his partner and Seungmin said yes just so I had to be partners with Minho."

"Why did Hyunjin ask to be your partner?" Jeongin asked Seungmin.

"So he could flirt with me." Seungmin said. "The whole time Hyunjin was being so flirty, but it was funny." Jeongin eyed Seungmin carefully.

"One of our activities was an elevated obstacle course where we had to guide our blindfolded partner across it." Felix continued. "Changbin was terrified of heights so I kissed him to calm him down and it worked."

"Woah _you_ kissed _him_?" Jeongin was in disbelief.

"Yes!" Felix said proudly.

"After the whole obstacle course thing I asked Minho why he was being so nice to me all of a sudden and he told me it was because there was something about me that made him trust me."

"Oh?" Jeongin raised his eyebrows. "You managed to gain Minho's trust? Maybe you'll be the person to melt the cold heart of Minho." Jisung just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"At dinner Jisung shared his meal with Minho again. After dinner we had a campfire. We sat pretty far and apparently Jisung was cold so Minho gave him his sweatshirt." Seungmin said.

"Minho did what?" Jeongin's jaw dropped.

"Wait it gets better, Jisung fell asleep on Minho's shoulder. Minho admired Jisung's face for a few seconds before he carried Jisung back to the cabin so Jisung could sleep comfortably on a bed."

Jeongin was in complete disbelief. Was this the same Minho that they're talking about?

"The next day these two girls pushed Seungmin and Jisung from Minho and Hyunjin. Jisung fell because he can't stay standing like a normal person. Minho and Hyunjin tried to check on Seungmin and Jisung but the two girls stood in their way. Minho and Hyunjin got angry and push passed them and bumped into their shoulder really hard. They checked on these two to see if they were ok. After that we all went zip lining and talked about random stuff. Then we had to pack to go home. Changbin asked me to sit next to him." Felix smiled.

"Hyunjin asked me to sit next to him."

"Minho asked me to sit next to him. And now we're here."

"That's, a lot of information to take in. I did _not_ think that a three day camp trip would result in all of this." Jeongin rubbed his temples. "Do you like Hyunjin?" He looked at Seungmin.

Seungmin slowly nodded, "I do." He said quietly.

"What's wrong hyung?" The youngest could sense Seungmin's sadness from a mile away

"It's just, I know Hyunjin doesn't like me back. I know He only flirted with me because I'm a new target in his eyes."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do. He's like that. He's never actually dated anyone. He just flirts for fun. He doesn't really have feelings for me and I wish I didn't either but he's so funny and sweet. I'm planning to just ignore my feelings so that when he gets a new target it won't hurt me as much." Seungmin looked down.

"I'm in the same dilemma as you." Jisung said.

"You like Minho?" Everyone gasped.

"I-I think I do? I don't know. I've never felt this way towards someone before. Every time Minho makes eye contact with me, my heart flutters and I feel like there's a zoo in my stomach. I'm thinking about him all the time and I miss him already even though I literally hung out with him for three days straight. I just want to hug him whenever I want and be able to call him my boyfriend. But I know that Minho doesn't like me back."

"He definitely likes you back." Felix said like it was a known fact.

"No he doesn't. Why would he like me? He could literally have anyone in this school. There's a bunch of gorgeous girls and good looking guys that go to this school who like Minho. Minho could choose any one of them to date so why would he chose someone like me. I'm nowhere near the same level as them in looks or talent. He would never choose me." Jisung sighed as he played with his fingers.

"That's what I said with Changbin but look where we are now."

"Yeah but Changbin is different from Minho. Even Changbin said it himself."

"Yeah but Minho said that he trusts you. You're already doing better than everyone else." Seungmin said.

"Yeah he trusts me but he also trust his gang."

"Exactly you're the only person other than his gang that he trusts." Jeongin pointed out.

"That still doesn't mean he's interested in me. He probably just wants to be friends with me. He's never going to see me as more than a friend. He's never going to like me. He's never going to feel the same way about me as I do about him." Jisung looked down.

"That's not true." Someone behind them said.

All four of them whipped their head towards the person leaning against the door to the roof.

Jisung gasped.

"Minho?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooo things are finally getting funnnn hehe
> 
> i am so sorry for the cliffhanger. please dont hate me <3
> 
> tell me your opinions on this chapter :)
> 
> next chapter's gonna be... interesting...
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- lies   
\- confident ???
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	20. n i n e t e e n .

_"That's not true." Someone behind them said._

_All four of them whip their head towards the person leaning against the door to the roof._

_Jisung gasped._

_"Minho?"_

"W-what're you doing here?"

Minho stood up straight and walked towards them. "You guys weren't in the cafeteria so Hyunjin. Changbin and I split up to look for you three. By the way, Felix, you should probably text Changbin, he's looking for you and tell him that Seungmin's with you because Hyunjin's looking for him." He said without taking his eyes off of Jisung.

"Oh ok." Felix quickly took out his phone and texted Changbin. Seungmin and Jeongin secretly smirked, waiting for Minho to do something. Jisung, on the other hand, wanted to disappear because his crush had just heard what he said.

Minho took this time to grab Jisung's hand "We need to talk." He said as he dragged him to the door.

Jisung looked behind himself, at his friends, as he got dragged away, giving them a panicked look. His friends all gave him a smile and a wave. Minho pulled Jisung to an empty classroom, closing the door behind him.

Jisung walked over to a desk, leaning against it. An awkward silence filled the air for a few seconds before Jisung stuttered, "H-how long were you standing there?"

"Long enough to tell you that what you thought about me isn't true." Minho said as he slowly walked over to the shorter.

"What do you mean?" Jisung his vision fixed on the floor as he was too embarrassed to make eye contact with the person in front of him.

"Jisung look at me."

The boy hesitated, he didn't want to look at Minho. He already felt extremely vulnerable at the fact that he had just exposed himself to the other without even wanting to. He hoped that by not looking at Minho, he would vanish somehow, but by actually looking at Minho, it would confirm Jisung's humiliating reality.

"Jisung." The gang member said again but the shorter boy still didn't look up.

Realizing that Jisung wouldn't raise his head anytime soon, Minho put his finger under Jisung's chin and lifted it, forcing him to finally meet Minho's eyes.

"I like you too Han Jisung." He said loud and clear.

"Y-you don't have to lie. I know you're just saying that because you feel bad for me or something. It's ok if you don't feel the same, we can just forget about it." Jisung moved his chin from Minho's hand and looked back down, shifting his weight from the desk to his feet and walked away Minho's presence.

The gang member frowned and was quick to grab Jisung's arm, stopping him, but he didn't turn around. "Jisung stop it, I'm not lying. I seriously like you a lot. You're the only person, other than my gang, who actually cared for me. I knew something was special about you when you stood up for me when I got detention, which is why I saved you from that gang. When I heard you scream for help, I knew it was your voice so I rushed to help you. You made me feel things I've never felt before and I was scared."

Jisung turned around and faced Minho, looking in his eyes for any signs of dishonesty, but Minho's eyes were focused on the floor, "I told the gang about it and they teased me really bad and told me that I liked you, saying that there's someone in this world that finally melted my cold demeanor but I just rolled my eyes and ignored them." Minho admitted.

_Oh so that was what Changbin was talking about when he played 20 questions with Felix._

Minho glanced up at Jisung and quickly looked back down after, almost like he was ashamed of what he was about to say next, "That's why I was so harsh to you when you thanked me. I tried to scare you away so you wouldn't get close to me and make me feel things again. My plan was working up until camp. I tried to be rude to you but you were so persistent about getting me to eat, I just couldn't hold back anymore. The next day I tried to ignore you all day again, but obviously I couldn't since we were partners."

He had finally looked up at Jisung, "Remember when I told you that I was your partner because Hyunjin wanted to be partners with Seungmin so he could flirt?" Jisung nodded his head slowly.

"That was sort of a lie. It's true that Hyunjin wanted to be partners with Seungmin, but he wanted to be partners with him because then it would force us two to be partners. Changbin and Hyunjin have been trying to get me to talk to you because they knew I had some sort of feelings for you but I always retaliated."

_I think my friends and your friends share the same brain. _Jisung thought to himself.

"I thought that if I pushed you away and continued to be an asshole to you then you would just take the hint and leave me alone which would help me get rid of my feelings for you but you're stubbornness made it harder for me to push you away."

Minho paused for a second, slightly smiling at Jisung's stubborn self, before continuing, "When I freaked out on the bridge, you were able to soothe and calm me down just by holding my hands and talking to me which has never happened before. You managed to make me feel safe and I realized then and there that I could trust you. I've never trusted someone as fast as I did with you, in fact I just don't trust people ever. That's when I finally admitted to myself that I liked you. When you suggested to go zip lining the next day, I saw the way your eyes lit up and I couldn't say no, even if I'm terrified of heights. On the bus when you told me all that stuff about me, it made my heart melt and it made me like you even more. I've never cared about someone as much as I care about you Jisung, which is crazy to say since we haven't known each other for a long time. You make my heart skip a beat every time you even look at me and I wanted to say something but I didn't know if you would like me back because of my reputation. You have no idea how happy I am knowing that you like me. Please believe me when I say that I like you too." Minho desperately begged the other with his eyes.

Jisung was in shock to say the least. _Minho actually likes me back?_ There were thousands of thoughts flying through his brain. He couldn't process what Minho said since it was all thrown at him at once and it was very overwhelming.

The longer the boy didn't answer the more anxious Minho got. "Jisung _please_."

Jisung looked in Minho's eyes, there was no signs of falsity. There was only sincerity and genuineness present in his eyes and the class president finally decided that Minho was definitely telling the truth. Feeling all the confidence in the world, Jisung grabbed Minho's collar, pulling him down to his lips. Minho wasn't expecting the other to kiss him and before he could react, Jisung pulled away blushing.

"Dumbass." Jisung mumbled.

Minho smiled and pulled him back into a soft and gentle kiss, placing his hands on Jisung's nape. This time it was Jisung's turn to be surprised but he quickly recovered from the shock and kissed his crush back, moving his lips in sync with Minho's.

The kiss didn't last that long as Jisung pulled away to take a breath. They leaned their foreheads against each other breathing heavily.

"Please be my boyfriend?" Minho whispered.

"Eager are we?" Jisung teased.

"You have no idea." The gang member mumbled.

"Let me think about it." Jisung winked, making Minho throw his head back and groan.

The shorter boy laughed, "Of course I'll be your boyfriend."

The biggest smile formed on the gang member's face. He pulled his boyfriend into a hug and kissed his forehead.

-

During class Jisung wore a huge smile on his face which was a total contrast to his mood from this morning. He didn't pay attention at all and was distracted during his last three classes just like this morning and it was all because of one person. Lee Minho. His thoughts were busy thinking about the boy next to him.

From the corner of his eye, Jisung could see Minho stare at him every so often. He looked over at the boy on his right to catch him in the act. His boyfriend gave him a smile and winked which caused Jisung to panic. The latter quickly averted his attention back to the board at the front of the classroom and cleared his throat. Minho silently laughed at Jisung's action, amused at the effect he had on the shorter male.

Jisung's friends didn't know what happened at lunch after Minho took him because of the fact that the lunch bell rang before he even got the chance to explain, but they had a pretty good idea. Jisung knew his friends were dying to know the details, but they were going to have to wait until after school.

Before Jisung even knew it, the last bell rang indicating that school was finally over.

"You are coming over to my house right now and explaining everything." Felix whispered to Jisung.

"Yes mother." Jisung replied.

The class president could sense a presence waiting for him on his right. The latter turned his head and met eyes with Minho who was leaning on his desk.

"I really wish I could take you home or something but me and the gang have stuff to take care of after school everyday this week." Minho looked apologetic.

Jisung smiled, "Don't worry about it. I'm not even going home after school today."

Minho frowned a bit. "Where are you going?"

"I'm just going to Felix's house to probably get interrogated by my friends. They're definitely wondering what happened after you dragged me out of the rooftop." Jisung laughed.

Minho smiled at the mention of the event that happened during lunch. He wrapped his arms around Jisung's waist and pulled him into a hug. The action surprised Jisung and caused him to yelp. Minho looked down at him, and the shorter male looked up at Minho. He loved the way the gang member looked. The way Minho's hair landed on his forehead, it was long enough to cover his eyes. Realizing he was staring, Jisung became flustered and buried his face in Minho's chest. This caused Minho to laugh at the shy boy and hug him tighter.

"Well I feel bad for not being able to hang out with you at all this week so let me take you out on a date this Saturday." Minho said.

Jisung looked up at Minho, "A date?"

Minho nodded. "Yes, our first official date."

Jisung smiled. "I'd love that."

"Good because I wasn't going to take no for an answer." He said, making Jisung laugh. "I wish I didn't have to but I have to go before Chan gets mad." Minho pouted.

"Go. You wouldn't want to make the boss mad." Jisung joked as slightly push Minho towards the door.

Minho pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Jisung. "Text me." He turned his attention towards his two friends "Changbin, Hyunjin, let's go."

Jisung turned around and noticed that everyone in the classroom had left except for the six of them. Changbin was talking to Felix, probably telling him the same thing Minho told Jisung and Hyunjin was talking to Seungmin about God knows what. The two boys quickly bid goodbye with the person they were talking to and turned to Minho

"Bitch, you're telling us to hurry up and go as if we weren't the ones who were waiting for you to finish talking with Jisung." Hyunjin playfully rolled his eyes. Jisung slightly chuckled at what was said.

"The audacity." Changbin scoffed as they walked towards the door.

Minho whacked their heads, "Shut up, don't act like you weren't also talking with-" his voice faded out as the three left the classroom.

Felix and Seungmin looked at Jisung and they all laughed at the three gang members.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." Seungmin pointed at Jisung.

"Yeah, I know I do." Jisung sighed.

-

When the three arrived in Felix's room, everyone's focus was on Jisung. The boy avoided their eyes and acted like there wasn't a giant elephant in the room.

"Spill now." Seungmin demanded.

Instead of telling them right away, Jisung wanted to mess around with them. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Seungmin scoffed. "Oh please, don't think I didn't see you and Minho cuddling after school was over." Felix nodded.

"We were hugging."

"Really? You could've fooled me. You guys were hugging for so long, at that point it's considered cuddling." Seungmin snapped.

Jisung opened his mouth to say something back but soon closed it after not being able to think of anything else to say to counterattack Seungmin's previous statement.

"Are you gonna tell us or are you gonna keep stalling." Felix gave him a look.

"Fine fine." Jisung sat down on Felix's bed and everyone else gathered around him, eager to hear the story.

"When Minho dragged me off the rooftop, he pulled me into an empty classroom. He told me he liked me and I told him he didn't have to lie." His three friends rolled their eyes at what Jisung said to Minho. "He told me he wasn't lying and then he told me a lot of cute things and then he told me to believe him when he said that he truly liked me. I was in shock so I didn't answer and I'm pretty sure it made him really nervous because he continued to blabber. I looked in his eyes and saw how genuine he was being so I kissed him to show that I trusted what he was saying. After that he asked me to be his boyfriend and I agreed."

"Oh my god finally!!!" Felix cheered.

"We told you that he liked you but you never listened." Seungmin shook his head.

Jisung narrowed his eyes at Seungmin. "Are you listening to us when we tell you that Hyunjin likes you back?"

"That's different."

"No it's not." Felix and Jisung said simultaneously.

"Anyways," Seungmin changed the subject, "Congrats on being the first person in history to melt the cold heart of the meanest gang member." He teased.

"I am not." Jisung mumbled.

"Do you think he's gonna be nicer to everyone now?" Felix wondered.

"That could happen if Jisung helps calm his anger." Seungmin mumbled the last part but everyone heard it.

"Maybe he won't be as angry anymore now that he has someone to love."

"Love? He doesn't love me." Jisung denied.

Both boys gave an 'are you serious?' look to Jisung but they chose not to argue with him about it.

"Ok, I mean someone to care for." Felix corrected himself.

Jisung shrugged. "He's not a mean person. He just has a trouble time trusting people which is why he acts rude to people."

"I wonder why he has trust issues." Seungmin thought out loud.

"I mean, he's in a gang. It wouldn't be good if you were in a gang and you easily trusted people." Felix said as if it was the most obvious thing.

"Well yeah but you don't see Chan or Woojin or anyone else in the gang acting as excessive as Minho."

Jisung stayed quiet. He was also curious as to why Minho has trouble trusting people. _Every time Minho talked about his lack of trust for people, he said it was because of 'personal reasons'. It definitely couldn't mean the gang because that's not very personal. It had to be about something else, but what? Does those scars have something to do with it?_

Jisung was brought back from his thoughts when Felix asked "I wonder how the tutoring is going with Jeongin."

"It's either going really well or Jeongin is making a fool of himself." Jisung commented.

"Definitely the second one." Seungmin laughed.

"Have a little faith in our child." Jisung nudged Seungmin.

-

Jisung was sitting on his bed when he received a FaceTime from Jeongin._ It's probably a group FaceTime._ Jisung answered it and sure enough three faces popped up on his laptop.

"What this about?"

"Jeongin tell us about your little study date." Felix asked eagerly.

"First of all, it wasn't a date, and before I do that, I wanna hear about what happened after you got dragged away by Minho." Jeongin said.

Jisung smiled as he explained everything for the second time. After he was done, Jeongin freaked out at the cute story. "I cannot believe you're dating Minho!"

"Yeah me neither." Jisung laughed.

"Remember at the beginning of the year when I suggested you should be friends with them and y'all swore that it wasn't going to happen." Jeongin snorted.

"Yeah yeah, now tell us about your date." Jisung smiled.

"It wasn't a date, it was a tutoring session." Jeongin stated for the second time. "Anyways nothing even happened. I just helped him with math equations. Whenever he got an answer correct he would get really happy and it made my heart do things. His face when he's focused on solving a problem is the cutest thing ever and whenever he got an answer incorrect he would pout and oh my god I think I'm really falling hard for him."

"AWWWWW!" Felix and Jisung gushed.

Seungmin snorted. "You are definitely whipped for him."

"I don't know what to do. I want to be with him already but I don't know if he even likes me or is interested in me." Jeongin pouted.

"We've had this exact conversation way too much." Jisung sighed.

"Jeongin, he obviously will think you're cute. Everyone at school thinks you're cute." Felix said.

Jeongin sighed. "That's the problem. I don't want him to think I'm cute for the same reasons the whole school thinks I'm cute. I want him to be attracted towards me. I want him to think I'm cute because he likes me and knows the actual me. Not because of how innocent and baby I look. I don't want him to think I'm an adorable baby like everyone else does."

"You can do that during your tutoring sessions. Show him what you're like. Get to know him somehow. Show him your charms. Maybe once you guys get close enough then you can invite him to your house to hang out or something. You have all the resources you need right now, you just have to use it." Jisung pointed out.

"He's right Jeongin." Seungmin agreed.

"How often are you tutoring him?" Felix asked.

"Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday."

"You have to also try and talk to him in class too for once."

"I'm just scared." Jeongin said softly. "I'm scared that even when he gets to know me, he still won't like me."

"Innie, you are the most precious person I've ever met. You are amazing inside and out. If Yedam doesn't see that then it's his lost and you definitely don't deserve him." Seungmin admitted. Jisung and Felix nodded, agreeing with what was said

"You know what, you're right. I'll start tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> MINSUNG ARE FINALLY TOGETHER YALL IT TOOK NINETEEN CHAPTERS BUT IT HAPPENED.
> 
> anyways idk why but this chapter was hard for me to write but i think it turned out ok, except for the ending lmao it's kinda awkward.
> 
> next chapter is going to be a little short. i hope you won't mind but i'll probs double update next week.
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- they finally talk  
\- minho lies  
\- hyunjin says nope
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	21. t w e n t y .

Minho was sitting in the basement of the house with his gang members and Yedam. They've just finished with their work for the day and now they were hanging out in their den. Hyunjin and Changbin were wondering the same thing while everyone else was clueless about what happened.

"So, Minho." Hyunjin asked as he and Changbin slowly trudged their way towards the boy.

Minho looked up from his phone and saw both of them standing in front of him. "What?" He asked as he looked back at his phone.

"Wanna tell us what that was about?"

"The mission? I think it went fine." He said uninterested.

Hyunjin and Changbin rolled their eyes and sighed. Changbin reached over and snatched Minho's phone from his hands.

"Dude what the hell." Minho looked up at the two with an annoyed expression.

"We're talking about what happened at lunch!" Changbin said irritated.

"Yeah when me and Changbin arrived at the rooftop, you and Jisung weren't there. It was only Seungmin, Felix and Jeongin and they all said that you dragged

Jisung away somewhere else." Hyunjin said loudly, catching the attention of everyone else.

"And I saw they way you stared at Jisung during class. Don't even get me started on your hugging session with him after class." Changbin added on. By now, everyone else in the basement had slowly gathered around Minho.

"Oooo did Minho finally ask out his crush?" Chan teased.

"Woah I didn't think you were gonna ask him out so soon." Yedam said.

Minho looked at every single one of them and they all were waiting for him to spill the truth. "...I might've asked him out at lunch."

"Uh huh, we got that much. You better tell us the whole story." Woojin said, pointing at the boy being interrogated.

Minho smiled, "Well at lunch when we were finding them, I went to the rooftop and I saw them there. I heard everyone gasp which made me think I was interrupting an important conversation so I turned around to leave them but then I heard someone say 'you like Minho?' Which made me freeze and listen to the rest of the conversation. Jisung basically confessed to his friends about his feelings towards me and then told his friends that I would never like him like that. That's when I said that 'it wasn't true' out loud and it got everyone's attention. I went over and dragged Jisung to an empty classroom and I told him my feelings. He didn't believe me so I gushed about him and basically begged him to believe me. He didn't answer so I panicked but Jisung kissed me. After that I asked him to be my boyfriend and he said yes."

Minho lied in the beginning. He didn't arrive at the rooftop when everyone gasped. He arrived when Seungmin was talking about how some guy would never have feelings for him and how Seungmin was going to ignore his feelings for the guy. Minho knew that the guy Seungmin was talking about, was Hyunjin. And for obvious reasons, the gang member didn't want to tell anyone about it, so he lied. It wasn't Minho's secret to tell and he had a feeling if Jisung found out that he had told Seungmin's secret to Hyunjin, then he would get killed.

"Oh my god. Who knew you would become so whipped over someone." Chan said in pure shock.

"Is this the same Minho?" Woojin turned to Hyunjin and Changbin. "Are you sure the real Minho didn't get kidnapped during that camp trip and get replaced with him." Woojin motioned to the boy with his hands as Minho rolled his eyes.

"Minho getting kidnapped is physically impossible. He's too good at fighting." Yedam snorted.

"You should've seen him at camp." Hyunjin said. "The way Minho looked at Jisung, he's so whipped for him."

"Who is this Jisung kid and when do we get to meet him? I need to ask him how he was able to get through your thick ass wall." Chan spoke and Minho rolled his eyes for the second time.

"Felix too. When do we get to meet Felix?" Woojin faced Changbin.

"We'll introduce you to them at lunch tomorrow." Changbin smiled.

"Please don't scare them off." Minho stated.

"Well if you couldn't scare them off them I don't think you'll have anything to worry about." Woojin mumbled. Everyone laughed as Minho glared at the oldest.

"You can meet Seungmin too." Minho nudged Hyunjin with his foot.

"Who's Seungmin?" Woojin looked at Hyunjin, expecting him to explain.

"The guy that Hyunjun hung out with at camp." Changbin reminded.

"Oh yeah. Are you gonna ask him out anytime soon?" Everyone's eyes were on Hyunjin, anticipating his next answer.

Hyunjin hesitated before he shook his head. "Nope."

Minho and Changbin were taken aback. "What do you mean 'nope?'"

"I don't like him so why would I?" Hyunjin shrugged.

"Are you sure? Because I don't think I've seen you care about anyone, other than us, until Seungmin came along." Minho raised an eyebrow at him.

Hyunjin laughed, "I was just flirting like I usually do."

Changbin scoffed, "You saved a plate of food for him when he was late in the morning. You asked him to sit next to you on the bus _and_ at the campfire. I even saw you make him a smore. You looked for him at lunch today because you wanted to see him and talk to him. That's not flirting Hyunjin, that's called caring for someone you like and wanting to spend time with them."

"Hyunjin, from what I'm hearing, you might like this Seungmin guy." Chan chimed in.

Hyunjin shook his head. "I seriously don't have any feelings for him."

Chan, Woojin, and Yedam sighed. Minho and Changbin just rolled their eyes. Hyunjin is a stubborn kid and he ignored his feelings often. Minho felt bad for Seungmin, but his friend was going to come around eventually. He had to, right? Unless Hyunjin is telling the truth and actually doesn't like Seungmin...

Chan slung his arm around his younger brother. "What about you Yedam?"

"What about me?"

"How was your tutor session with Jeongin?"

"It went well. He explains things better than the teacher so I was able to understand most of the lessons." Yedam smiled.

"I feel like you've talked about him before?" Chan said sarcastically and the rest of the gang laughed.

Yedam glared at his brother. "You're probably thinking about the time I told you how he bumped into me at lunch that one time."

"Nah I had something else in mind." He winked at his younger brother. "So tell me, do you think he's cute?" Chan wiggled his eyebrows at Yedam.

"Everyone thinks he's cute." Yedam narrowed his eyes at his brother. He knew exactly what Chan was doing.

"I didn't asked what everyone else thought, I asked what _you_ think?"

Yedam rolled his eyes and pushed his brother away from him. "You already know what I think about him, you piece of ass. And we've never really talked before, until today."

"Well, you're about to spend more time with him now that he's tutoring you three times a week. Aren't you also in his class?" The gang leader asked and Yedam nodded.

"Why didn't you ask one of us to tutor you?" Hyunjin asked, a bit hurt.

"Not to be mean or anything, but you guys aren't very notorious for having the best grades." Yedam deadpanned. The gang looked offended even though they knew it was true.

"Except Woojin, he actually tries in school but he's also too busy with the gang so he wouldn't even have time to tutor me."

"I mean, he's not wrong." Woojin agreed and the six boys laughed.

"How is it that everyone we talked about are all from the same friend group. Jisung, Felix, Seungmin, and Jeongin. What are the odds?" Woojin asked amazed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a short chapter but i wanted to write what happened when minho told his friends about what happened.
> 
> you found out more about hyunjin's feelings, but yedam's feelings are a bit unclear.
> 
> choose one:
> 
> 🍓
> 
> or
> 
> 🍒
> 
> ^comment the fruit you choose. and choose wisely :) (i'll tell you what it's for in a future chapter)
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this chapter and i'm sorry it's so short. i promise the next chapter is not gonna be this short. i'm updating on friday too.
> 
> in the next chapter:   
\- seungmin has to what ???  
\- jisung tells what to who ???
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	22. t w e n t y  o n e .

Jisung woke up more exhausted than usual. He went to bed late last night because he was busy texting Minho. They just had random little conversations to get to know each other more.

When Jisung went downstairs his siblings saw how tired he was. "You look horrible." Brian laughed.

"Jisung why do you look so dead. What did you do all night?" Jihyo asked worried.

"I was studying." Jisung lied. The latter didn't want to tell his siblings what he was actually doing. He hadn’t told them that he was dating Minho yet and he wasn't planning on to any time soon because if they found out who Minho is then Jisung was dead meat. It was surprising how they don't already know who Minho is, they know about Stray Kids but they don't know specific names or faces. Maybe they won't think as badly of Minho since he did save Jisung from the other gang, but there was no way to tell.

"Oh ok well remember to sleep next time."

"I will!" Jisung replied as he walked out the door.

As Felix and Jisung walked into the school, Jeongin walked up to them alone, confusing Jisung since Seungmin never missed school.

"Is Seungmin not here?" Jisung asked the younger.

"He is. He's in the office right now." Jeongin replied.

"Office? Is he in trouble?" Felix raised his eyebrows.

Jeongin shrugged, "I honestly have no idea. They just called for Seungmin to go to the office. I doubt he's in trouble though."

The bell rang and the boys walked to class. When Seungmin entered class he wasn't alone. There was another student with him, someone Jisung had never seen. _Another new student?_ The kids in class started whispering once they saw the newbie. Mostly about how handsome he is. Jisung saw Seungmin talk to the teacher and then walk back to his seat leaving the student with the teacher.

Jisung and Felix turned around, "Who's that and why were you in the office?"

"Remember that stupid form I signed at the end of the year last year?" Seungmin grumbled.

"The one about helping new students?" Felix laughed.

"Yeah that one. Apparently they actually force you to help new students. I thought that they would ask you if it was ok with you. But no, they're making me help the new kid."

"Why are you so unhappy about this? It won't even be hard. You just have to show him around and that's it." Jisung asked confused.

"That's what I thought too but I have to spend the whole day with him for the next two days. I have to spend lunch with him because apparently the principal doesn't want the new kid to feel lonely so it's good if I'm his friend for two days." Seungmin sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

"Just invite him to eat with us." Felix suggested.

"Can't. I have to eat with him alone because the principle said that if we eat with my friends then he'll feel left out. He also said that if we sit alone then we'll ever able to get to know each other better." Seungmin rolled his eyes.

"You're so dramatic. It won't be that bad." Jisung commented.

Seungmin thought for a moment and his eyes lit up, "You know what? You're right. This will help me avoid Hyunjin. Maybe the next two days I'll be able to get rid of my little crush on him."

Felix scoffed, "Little crush."

"That's not exactly what I meant." Jisung said.

Before Seungmin could reply, the teacher spoke up. "Ok class we have another new student. Please introduce your name."

The new kid bowed, "I'm Lee Hwajoon. Nice to meet you guys." He flashed a smile and the class squealed at his cuteness.

"Thank you Hwajoon please take a seat next to Soobin. Soobin raise your hand." The mentioned boy did what he was told to do and Hwajoon walked over and sat next to him.

"At least he's not sitting next to me." Seungmin said loud enough for Felix and Jisung to hear which made them quietly laugh.

-

Lunch came faster than expected. When the bell rang Seungmin let out a loud groan. Jisung and Felix found joy at Seungmins misery and laughed.

"Hey Seungmin." Someone said. Jisung turned around to see the new boy standing next to Seungmin.

"Hey Hwajoon. Ready for lunch?" Seungmin asked with fake enthusiasm.

"Yeah I am!" Hwajoon smiled.

"Good! I'm not." Seungmin mumbled the last part.

"What'd you say?" Hwajoon asked confused.

"Huh? Oh nothing." Seungmin smiled. Felix and Jisung heard what the dramatic one said and laughed. "Bye Felix, bye Jisung. See you after lunch."

"Bye Seungmin." Felix and Jisung waved.

As Seungmin and Hwajoon was walking out the door, Seungmin turned around and faced the two boys mouthing _'help me'_ to them. Felix and Jisung playfully rolled their eyes at how extra Seungmin was being.

"Jisung!" The boy heard someone else say. The short male turned his head towards the sound and met eyes with Soobin. Jisung was surprised to say the least, he didn't think anyone else was in the room except for Felix.

"Soobin?" Jisung said confused.

"Can I talk to you."

"Uh yeah sure." Jisung looked at Felix and he also had a confused look on his face. "Felix I'll meet you and Jeongin on the rooftop." Felix nodded and left the room.

"So what's up?" Jisung said once they were alone.

"Just wanted to know how the whispering and staring has been today." Soobin sat on Minho's desk.

"Oh um, when we're in the hallways or at lunch, there's still a good amount of people who do that but as you can see, in class they don't do that anymore because of you so thank you for that." Jisung smiled.

Soobin shook his head, "You don't need to thank me. I'm glad I could help at least a little."

"When you first came here how come you didn't have anyone showing you around the school?" Jisung asked out of nowhere.

Soobin thought for a moment, "I asked the principle to not do that for me. I didn't to bother someone's day for no reason when I could just find where everything is myself."

"How considerate of you." Jisung said which make Soobin chuckle.

"Trust me I'm far from that." Soobin mumbled quiet enough so that Jisung didn't hear it. "Anyways, how are you and Minho?"

The question caught Jisung off guard. He didn't expect Soobin of all students to ask about that.

Soobin saw Jisung's surprised expression and quickly explained, "It's just that everyone's speculating that you and Minho are dating or something by how close you guys have gotten over the last few days but no one knows for sure and it made me wonder too."

_I also heard you talking in the woods at camp with your friends about how you didn't like Minho, but anyone could tell that you were lying and I need the truth._ Soobin thought to himself.

Jisung honestly didn't care if the whole school found out he was dating Minho, but he wanted to wait until next week to tell everyone since this week Minho and the gang was so busy. At least next week Minho would be with Jisung all the time and could protect him from everyone. Jisung didn't want the whole school to find out while Minho was not at school because then he'll be a vulnerable target for everyone to bully. Even though Changbin had already scared everyone, Jisung knew that there would be some stubborn people who wouldn't care. Minho is the most loved in the school which is confusing because he's the rudest but because of this, Jisung knows his treatment will be 10x worst than Felix's.

Jisung hesitated to tell Soobin because he didn't trust him. Jisung barely even knew the kid and once he tells him, Soobin has all the power. He could release the truth to the whole school whenever he wanted to. Jisung didn't like the idea of that.

"Jisung you can trust me. I promise I won't tell anyone." Soobin said genuinely.

_Maybe I should trust him. He's never given me a reason not to trust him. He even stood up for me and my friends without being told to do so. He seems like a decent guy too._ Jisung thought to himself.

"Yeah I'm dating Minho." Jisung admitted.

Soobin smiled at the news, "Aw that's cute. I'm happy for you Jisung! When'd you guys get together?"

"We got toge-"

Jisung was cut off by someone barging into the classroom. The two boys in the classroom whipped their heads towards the door and met eyes with the person they were just talking about. Minho's eyes narrowed at the two boys. He obviously wasn't happy with seeing his boyfriend alone in a room with another person at lunch.

Jisung immediately smiled when he saw Minho. He saw his boyfriend's irritated facial expression and got off his desk. The shorter male walked over to Minho, giving him a hug to calm him down. "Hey."

Minho wrapped his arms around Jisung, "Did I interrupt something?" Minho coldly looked at Soobin.

Jisung snorted at what his boyfriend said because Minho knew exactly what he was doing when he walked into the classroom.

"I was actually just leaving." Soobin got up. "See you later Jisung." He said as he quickly left the class.

"Bye Soobin." Jisung said but by the time he got the name out of his mouth, Soobin was already out the door.

Jisung laughed. "You scared Soobin away."

"Good, that's what I was trying to do." Minho stated.

Jisung playfully rolled his eyes, "You're a jealous dork."

"I'm your jealous dork." Minho wiggled his eyebrows.

The smaller boy imitated barf noises, "Stop being so cringy."

"Be quiet, you definitely liked it."

Jisung turned pink, "How'd you find me?" He quickly changed the subject.

"Changbin, Hyunjin and I went to the rooftop to see you three but when I saw only Felix and Jeongin, I asked where you were and Felix told me you were probably here."

"Does Hyunjin know where Seungmin went?"

"Felix told us that Seungmin was somewhere else."

"That's all?" Jisung raised his eyebrows.

Minho nodded. "Hyunjin didn't really ask for him to specify. He just nodded."

"Oh." Was all Jisung said. He expected a bigger reaction from Hyunjin. Maybe Seungmin was right about Hyunjin, but that doesn't make sense.

"I want you to meet someone." Minho pulled Jisung out the classroom and to the cafeteria.

_Meet someone? Who could he possibly want me to meet?_

"Huh? Who?"

"Two people actually. Chan and Woojin." Minho smiled.

Jisung opened his eyes wide. He knew he was bound to meet them at some point, he just didn't think it was going to be so soon and honestly he wasn't ready to meet them. He wasn't ready for their judgement.

"You want me to meet them right now?" Jisung asked for clarification.

Minho nodded, "Yep!"

Jisung started to panic, "Oh god, what if they don't like me? I'm not ready for that."

Minho chuckled, "Jisung it's not like they're my parents or something. They're just my friends, and they already like you. They're both very intrigued."

_Bullshit, I know you think of them as your parents to some extent._

"Intrigued? In a good way?"

"Yes so stop worrying. Like I just said, they already like you."

That new set of knowledge calmed Jisung down. He was glad that the couple already liked him, but he was confused on how they were intrigued by him. How could you be positively intrigued by someone? What made Jisung so intriguing? The boy sighed, he was gonna find out the answer to that question soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> let me explain the fruits from the last chapter.  
in the previous chapter, i asked you guys to choose between two fruits (if you haven't commented/chosen, then please do!!). if majority chooses the correct fruit then it'll benefit you, if majority chooses the wrong fruit then you might hate me :)  
pls keep in mind that this voting has NOTHING to do with the storyline. in other words, something sad will not happen in the book just because you chose the wrong one, but it might make you mad in another way. so pls don't be scared !!
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this chapter. it's sorta a filler chapter. i'll update next chap soon :)
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- they finally meet...
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	23. t w e n t y  t w o .

_"I want you to meet someone." Minho pulled Jisung out the classroom and to the cafeteria._

_"Huh? Who?"_

_"Two people actually. Chan and Woojin." Minho smiled._

...

When the pair arrived in the lunchroom everyone's attention was on them. Of course no one said anything, they were too afraid of what Minho would do, but they did stare as if the pair had come in the lunch room with all their hair shaved off.

"I know you said not to worry because they're your friends and not your parents but why does it feel like I'm meeting your parents?" Jisung whispered.

Minho chuckled, "Jisung relax, they're not going to do anything to you." The shorter boy looked up at his boyfriend and narrowed his eyes.

Jisung looked back at the table and saw Chan, Woojin, Changbin, Hyunjin, Yedam, and Felix. They were talking about something. _Changbin probably introduced Felix to Chan and Woojin too. But where's Jeongin?_

"Oh wassup Minho. Who's this?" Chan asked once they arrived at the table. It was sort of a rhetorical question because Chan obviously knew exactly who the person was.

"Chan, Woojin, this is Jisung, my boyfriend." Minho introduced. Jisung gave a shy smile.

"Ah so you're the person who Minho can't stop talking about." Chan gave a warm smile.

Jisung laughed and looked at Minho, "You talk about me?"

"No-"

"Yes, all the time." Woojin cut Minho off.

"He gushes about you all the time." Yedam added.

"I've never seen him so head over heels for someone." Chan said. "He's always smiling while staring at his phone and I soon realized it was because he was texting you."

Jisung gave a big smile at the taller. He felt his heart go soft. Minho rolled his eyes at his friends, "Don't listen to them." He told his boyfriend but Jisung was already smirking at him.

"Jisung always talks about Minho too." Felix said casually.

Jisung looked at Felix with a look of betrayal. "Felix!"

"What?" Felix acted like he's done nothing wrong. "It's the truth. Everyone already knows, I just said it out loud." The gang nodded their heads.

Jisung scoffed, "Don't act like you're not worse than me." Felix narrowed his eyes at his friend and Changbin's eyes lit up.

"You're cute when you're flustered." Minho said looking at his boyfriend.

Jisung turned pink, "Stop it." He pushed Minho and the latter just laughed.

"Where's Jeongin?" Jisung asked Felix.

Chan popped up at the mention of Jeongin. He sent a look towards his little brother and Yedam sent a glare at the older.

"Jeongin?" Chan acted confused even though he knew exactly who he was.

Yedam rolled his eyes. He knew what his brother was doing. "He's my tutor. Remember? He's also friends with Jisung and Felix"

"Oh yeah." Chan nodded, Woojin rolled his eyes and slapped his boyfriend's shoulder.

"He said he was gonna sit with Seungmin." Felix answered Jisung's question. Hyunjin popped up at the mention of Seungmin.

Jisung furrowed his eyebrows, "I thought Seungmin said-"

Felix shrugged, "That's what I thought too but they're sitting over there." Felix pointed two tables down.

Everyone looked at the table Felix was pointing at. There was Seungmin sitting next to the new kid and Jeongin was sitting across Seungmin. They were all laughing at something.

"Who's that next to Seungmin?" Hyunjin asked almost bitterly.

"He's new. His name's Hwajoon." Jisung replied.

Hyunjin saw how Seungmin was laughing at whatever Hwajoon said. For some reason, anger was bubbling inside of him. The gang member had never wanted to punch anyone as badly as he wanted to beat the new kid up. He didn't understand why though. Why was he feeling like this? Why did he care so much? Why was he so angry?

Jisung walked over to the table with Minho close behind.

"Hey guys." Jisung said once he got to the table. Everyone looked up.

Seungmin looked happy to see his friend again, "Hey Jisung!" He saw Minho walk up behind Jisung. "Oh hey Minho!"

"Hey Seungmin. Why aren't you with Hyunjin?" Minho asked.

"Ah because I'm sitting with Hwajoon." Seungmin motioned to the person next to him with his head.

Minho didn't even spare a glance at Hwajoon but Hwajoon on the other hand was staring at the gang member since the moment he arrived at the table and Jisung noticed. "Maybe you can join us and sit next to me?" The new kid said to Minho. Jisung stiffened at the offer.

Minho rolled his eyes, "No thanks." He said uninterested. Minho grabbed Jisung's hand, but Hwajoon didn't notice because he was too busy looking at his face

Jisung quickly wanted to change the subject. "Jeongin, you should come sit with us, Yedam's there."

It was Jeongin's turn to stiffen.

Seungmin caught onto what Jisung was doing, "I agree with Jisung!" Jeongin looked at him with wide eyes and the older male just smiled.

"Okay." He said passive aggressively standing up. When the couple wasn't looking he turned to Seungmin and mouthed to him _'I'm going to kill you.'_

Seungmin snickered, "Bye guys." He waved.

"Bye Seungmin." Everyone said.

"See you later Minho." Hwajoon winked. Minho ignored the latter and kept walking.

When they went back to their table Seungmin turned towards the person next to him, "You should back off of Minho."

Hwajoon raised an eyebrow, "Why? Do you have a thing for him?"

Seungmin bursted out laughing, "Me? Oh my god no!"

"Then I don't see why I should leave him alone." He looked back at Minho.

Seungmin snorted, "You're not from Seoul are you?"

The new kid shook his head, "No, I moved from Ilsan."

"...Minho's... probably interested in someone else." Seungmin thought about telling Hwajoon who Minho was dating but no one at school really knew yet. Even though everyone had a feeling, Seungmin still didn't feel right telling him the full truth.

"I don't see anyone with him." Hwajoon shrugged.

_If you would open your goddamn eyes and look anywhere other than Minho's face then you would notice he's with Jisung._

"Hwajoon, seriously, Minho is off limits."

The boy rolled his eyes, "Yeah whatever."

-

When Jisung, Minho and Jeongin arrive back at the table, Yedam motioned for Jeongin to sit next to him.

Hyunjin noticed that Seungmin wasn't walking with them. He looked back at the table and saw Seungmin still sitting next to the new kid, laughing again. He felt disappointed. He didn't realize he was hoping for Seungmin to come and sit next to him until he saw that Seungmin didn't come and was sitting alone with the new kid. Hyunjin wouldn't admit it to himself though, he shook it off and continued to eat.

"You must be Jeongin right? I'm Chan, Yedam's brother." Chan introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you." Jeongin smiled.

"Thanks for teaching my brother. It's probably really difficult, I know he's kind of an idiot." Jeongin laughed while Yedam threw a fry at his brother.

"I am not! Math is just confusing." Yedam pouted and Jeongin swore his heart melted.

Chan playfully rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say."

Jeongin patted Yedam's shoulder, "It's okay. Math is not for everyone. Only the more advanced learners can understand it." He jokingly dissed.

"Ohhhh." Everyone said. Yedam looked at Jeongin with a look of betrayal. His jaw was open. Chan reached over and high fived Jeongin.

"Are you gonna take that?" Woojin said to Yedam laughing.

Jeongin saw Yedam's facial expression and giggled, "I'm just playing with you. You're actually a fast learner." He nudged the younger with his shoulder.

Yedam smiled proudly, "You hear that Chan? I'm a fast learner."

Chan scoffed, "It's Chan _hyung_ and he's just being nice." His younger brother just rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, Woojin and I wanna talk to Jisung alone." Chan turned to Jisung. He was standing at the end of the table next to Minho.

Jisung eyes widened. He looked at Minho in panic and the latter gave him a smile and nodded to reassure him. Jisung turned back to the couple and said "O-oh ok."

"Don't scare him." Minho whispered to Chan and Woojin.

The leader smiled, "If you couldn't scare him then we have no chance."

Chan and Woojin led Jisung out to the hallway. It was empty since all the kids were eating.

Jisung looked around nervously and Woojin noticed. "Jisung we're not going to do anything. Don't be so nervous."

"It's kind of hard not to. It's intimidating being alone with the leader of Stray Kids and his boyfriend who just so happens to also be in Stray Kids." Jisung mumbled.

Chan snorted, he found it kind of ironic, Jisung was dating _the_ Lee Minho and he found it intimidating to be alone with the leader of Stray Kids and another member.

"What'd you wanna talk about?" Jisung asked.

"How'd you do it?" Chan crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at the younger.

The question confused Jisung, "Do what?"

"Break Minho's thick ass shell?" Woojin snorted.

Jisung thought about the question, "I'm just stubborn." He shrugged.

Chan was silent for a moment while Woojin looked amused. "I respect you Jisung."

Jisung looked at Woojin surprised. "Me? Why?"

The oldest thought about how he was going to answer this question. He needed to be careful. He didn't want to tell Jisung too much but he wanted to tell him just enough. Minho can tell Jisung everything when he wanted. "Minho had an... unfair start at life. He's been through more than a child should go through which is the reason why he's so untrusting of other people."

This is the most information Jisung's gotten about Minho's younger life. It made him question many things. "Does the scars on his wrist have anything to do with his past? Or is it from fighting like everyone says it is?" He asked before he could stop himself.

The two did not expect to be asked that. No one has ever questioned Minho's scarred wrists. Mostly because people are scared to talk to Stray Kids, especially to Minho, but also because everyone just concluded that it was from fighting. I mean what else could it be from? Right? The couple honestly forgot about them. The only time they've ever really acknowledged and talked about it was when Minho explained to the gang about it a long time ago. After that, never did they talk about it again.

"You should ask Minho about that." Chan answered.

Jisung nodded. He honestly didn't expect much when he asked the question. Jisung knew he was asking the wrong people. Chan and Woojin would never spill their friend's personal secret.

"Anyways, Minho acts like his normal self around the gang but to anyone else he has this facade since he doesn't trust well. We know why he acts like that but we've also been slowly trying to get him to drop it but he's too stubborn and never listened to us. We gave up and learned to accept the fact that he would never change, then you came along. I've never seen Minho trust someone so fast. All it took was three days at a camp and he already trusted you like you've been a part of the gang for ten years. You've probably heard this a bunch of times but Minho has never in his life trusted anyone apart from the members of Stray Kids. You're the very first. Who knows maybe you can be the very first person to bring down this facade of his forever." Chan shrugged.

Jisung shook his head and looked down. "You're giving me more credit than I deserve."

"He's not. Ever since Minho's come home from the camp, he's been much more happier. I don't think I've ever seen him smile so much during school. I've never seen him actually want to go to school. If you can change his feelings that quickly about school, then you can definitely change his feelings about other people." Woojin added and Chan agreed.

"I honestly thought you guys wouldn't care this much about his rude front. As the leader of Stray kids, I didn't think you would want to get rid of it so much. I thought you would think of it as a plus since it would help Stray Kids in some ways."

"I'm doing this as a friend. I'm doing this because I care about him. You don't want your friend to act like this and be mad and rude all the time. You want to see them happy and smiling. Before you came along I never saw him smile outside of our house and it made me worried. But now he smiles whenever he's with you." Chan said.

The corner of Jisung's lips turned up into a smile. He was glad he could make Minho happier because his happiness meant everything to him. "I hope I can."

"We know you can Jisung." Woojin said like it was known fact.

"How can you be so confident in me?" How could these two believe in him more than Jisung believed in himself?

"Because you already did the impossible. You could do more with it." Jisung thought about what Woojin said. Maybe he was right but at the same time that seemed more impossible than what Jisung did.

The bell rang.

"Bye Jisung. We like you and Felix already." Chan smiled a genuine smile and Woojin nodded, smiling too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> sorry if this was a boring chapter. i honestly didn't know how to write their first meet. i tried my best and i think it turned out ok?
> 
> anyways voting ends now!! i'm gonna count all the votes for each fruit from both platforms (if you didn't already know, i posted this story on ao3 and wattpad).
> 
> i'm excited for next chapter because it's gonna be fun :)))) hehe stay tuned till friday
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- a realization ???
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	24. t w e n t y  t h r e e .

When Jisung and Felix arrived at school, Jeongin and Seungmin walked up to them as usual but something didn't seem right.

"Are you not hanging out with Hwajoon today?" Felix asked Seungmin.

Seungmin groaned at the mention of the new kid's name. "I wish I wasn't but I am. He's just not here yet."

"Come on, he can't be that bad." Jisung rolled his eyes at his friend's dramaticness.

Seungmin gave Jisung a dead look, "Trust me. It's bad." Jisung scoffed.

Suddenly a random arm slung around Jisung's shoulder causing the poor boy to jump in fear. _Who's hand is this?_ He quickly looked at the owner of the arm and his eyes softened.

"Minho?" He said in surprise. What was he doing here?

Changbin popped up beside Felix while Hyunjin appeared beside Seungmin, scaring the shut out of the two boys. Shortly after, Chan, Woojin, and Yedam popped up in the circle too. Yedam stood next to Jeongin and gave him a smile, making the boy melt.

Minho looked down and smiled at Jisung. "Hey Babe."

"I thought you weren't gonna be here until lunch?" Jisung looked beyond confused.

The gang member shook his head, "Not today. We aren't doing anything so I decided to come to school on time and hang with you."

Jisung snorted, "Minho coming to school on time? That's the first." Minho playfully rolled his eyes.

Felix slapped Changbin's chest, making the latter look at the taller with confused eyes. "Ow, why'd you hit me?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming early today?"

"I didn't find out until this morning." Changbin threw his hands up in surrender. "Also thought I would surprise you." He said making Felix smile.

"Kim Seungmin!" Someone yelled out out of nowhere.

Seungmin could recognize that voice from anywhere. He internally groaned and wanted to hide and pretend that he wasn't at school so he wouldn't hang out with the guy for any longer. The group turned their heads towards the owner of the voice and their eyes landed on Hwajoon.

"Welp that's my queue to leave. Bye guys." Seungmin said before he broke off from the little circle and walked with Hwajoon to his locker.

Hyunjin's face dropped for a split second but he quickly recovered. Anyone would've missed it but Minho saw it drop. He internally scoffed at how ridiculous his friend was being. Minho looked around to see if anyone saw it and he met eyes with Chan. The leader just lazily rolled his eyes at the audacity of Hyunjin.

The night before, Chan asked Hyunjin if he liked Seungmin and still he denied it. Insisting that he didn't like Seungmin, but he wasn't fooling anyone, they all saw his face earlier during lunch when Seungmin wasn't there. They all know he was lying to himself and the gang. It was just a matter of time before he would stop denying the truth and admit it to himself.

-

Hyunjin didn't pay attention in any of the subjects in class, he couldn't because his mind was too busy. Busy thinking about someone else, about the person who sat beside him.

_Is he ignoring me? He hasn't talked to me since Monday. Ever since that Hwajoon dude came in, Seungmin's been ditching his own friends just to hang out with the new kid. What's so special about Hwajoon anyways? Why aren't Felix or Jisung or Jeongin fazed about it?' _Hyunjin couldn't help but think. He quickly shook his head._ 'Why do I even care? It's not like I like him or anything... Right? Then why do I get jealous when Seungmin's hanging out with that bastard? Is the gang right? Do I like Seungmin? Nah that can't be it..._

Hyunjin's thoughts were cut off by the bell for lunch. He secretly thanked the world for it being lunch. As he was putting his stuff away he started to think about sitting next to Seungmin during lunch, finally being able to talk to him without Hwajoon.

When he looked up he didn't see Seungmin, it was only Minho, Jisung, Changbin, and Felix. No where was Seungmin in sight. Hyunjin sighed, he couldn't possibly be sitting with Hwajoon again... Right?

While walking to the lunchroom Hyunjin stayed quiet and fell a few steps behind everyone else. Minho noticed but didn't think much of it. He guessed it had something to do with Seungmin.

When they entered the lunchroom Hyunjin's quickly roamed around the cafeteria to find the dark haired boy that's been running in his mind all day. The search was quick as Seungmin sat in the same spot as yesterday with the same dude. Hwajoon.

Hyunjin rolled his eyes and slumped down at his usual table with his gang and their boyfriends and Yedam and Jeongin. Chan and Woojin looked at Hyunjin, confused as to why his mood was so negative. They had an idea but they weren't so sure. Hyunjin ignored their stare and the couple decided not to question him.

Hyunjin heard a laughter come from the table Seungmin sat at and he saw Hwajoon laughing at something Seungmin probably said. The sight added more fuel to Hyunjin's angry mood. Hwajoon didn't deserve to laugh at something that came out of Seungmin's mouth.

But Hyunjin ignored it. He also ignored the laughs that Hwajoon continued to let out after that.

_I hate this feeling. I hate feeling angry. Why can't Seungmin just sit next to me? It would fix everything. I want to be the one laughing at what he said. I want to be the only one who hears his dumb jokes.'_ Hyunjin finally realized. _'Oh my god. I really do like Seungmin._

Hyunjin looked at the table that his crush was sitting at. He saw that Seungmin had his hand out, under Hwajoon's fist. Hyunjin saw Hwajoon open his fingers out of the fist and hold Seungmin's hand. That was the last straw for Hyunjin, the anger inside of him overflowed along with his jealousy.

Hyunjin abruptly got up from his seat and walked over to where Seungmin was sitting. The table turned quiet, they gave a weird stare at their friend and asked questions on where Hyunjin was going, but he ignored all of them and continued to walk. Hyunjin only had one thing in mind and that was to go to his crush.

When Hyunjin arrived at the table, he slammed his fist on the table, getting the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. Seungmin and Hwajoon jumped and looked up at him. "Hyunjin?" Seungmin asked clearly surprised.

"Follow me." Hyunjin demanded.

Seungmin raised an eyebrow, "Wha-"

"Follow. Me."

Seungmin looked at Hwajoon who looked at him with the same confused expression. He looked back at Hyunjin, totally stunned at his crush's sudden behavior. What was going on with Hyunjin?

The gang member's patience was long gone so he reached out and grabbed Seungmin's wrist. He dragged him out to the hallway and Seungmin let him because he was too shocked to do anything else. Everyone in the cafeteria went quiet and stared as they watched Hyunjin drag the boy away. Before Seungmin could register what was happening, he was on the rooftop standing in front of Hyunjin.

Seungmin stared at Hyunjin who was looking down, "Uh, what hell is this all about? Why'd you bring me here? What's up with yo-"

The boy was cut off by Hyunjin's lips. Shocked was an understatement. Seungmin froze, he did not see that coming and he couldn't register through his brain what was happening. Was Hyunjin actually kissing him?

Hyunjin pulled away before Seungmin could react. The taller saw the boy's shocked face and sighed, "I-I'm sorry. The truth is, I like you Seungmin. I like you a lot and seeing you with Hwajoon every second of the day made me really jealous and hearing him laugh with you didn't really help with my jealousy. But seeing him hold your hand just now made me so angry I don't even know why— no wait, I know why I was angry I just don't have the right to be angry, it's not like we're together or anything so I shouldn't get mad. I just like you so much I couldn't stand seeing you with him for one more second. I understand if you don't like me back but I had to tell you my feelings because if I didn't then I know I would regre-"

Seungmin pulled Hyunjin into a kiss to stop his rambling. At first Seungmin couldn't take in what Hyunjin was saying. He liked Seungmin back? The shorter was 100% sure that there was no way Hyunjin would like him back, but yet here he was, confessing his feelings to Seungmin.

Now it was Hyunjin's turn to be shocked. He didn't recover from his shock until he felt Seungmin pull away from his lips. Hyunjin placed his hand on his crush's nape and pulled him back closer, kissing back. Seungmin's lips fit perfectly into Hyunjin's and their lips moved in sync. Hyunjin smiled into the kiss which made the other smile too. Seungmin felt little strands of electricity bursting through his insides and he felt like melting. His dream was coming true, he'd been dying to feel Hyunjin's perfect plump lips on his and now that he was able too and he couldn't get enough of it. 

Seungmin was the first to pull away to get some air. "You talk too much. I like you too idiot."

Hyunjin wore the biggest smile, "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that from you." Hyunjin felt like he was on cloud nine. His crush liked him back. Someone who likes Hyunjin for who he is, not because of his looks or his title.

Seungmin blushed and hid his face in the crook of Hyunjin's neck. "No, you have no idea how happy I am to hear that you actually like me. This feels like a dream."

Hyunjin laughed, "Seungmin look at me." The latter hesitated before following the direction.

"How could I not like you? You're beautiful inside and out. I love your sassiness and how you would protect the people you love without a second thought. I love how you weren't scared to be yourself around me and the gang. You weren't scared to put me in my place which was oddly refreshing to experience. You weren't thirsty for me like others and it was nice being around someone who saw me as a human being. You are absolutely perfect."

Seungmin could feel his face get hot, he looked down and lightly hit Hyunjin's chest. "Stop making me blush." He said awkwardly. Seungmin's never felt like this before and he didn't know how to deal with it. It was odd.

Hyunjin chuckled and pulled Seungmin into a hug. It was silent, not uncomfortable, they were just enjoying each other's presence. "How do you feel about going on a date this Sunday?" Hyunjin broke the silence.

Seungmin looked up at Hyunjin and shrugged, "I don't know, I might have plans."

Hyunjin looked down and frowned, "With who? Hwajoon?" He said bitterly.

"Yeah right." Seungmin scoffed before smiling at his crush, "I'm just joking, I would love to go on a date with you." The taller smiled and kissed Seungmin's forehead.

"Speaking of Hwajoon, I should probably get back to him." Hyunjin scowled at the name.

"You've been hanging with him too much. Why can't you just stay here with me." He didn't even try to hide his jealousy.

Seungmin laughed, "I have to hang out with him. I'm showing him around the school and the principle wanted me to hang out with him for at least two days while he gets all settled. Trust me, I'm not willingly doing this. I'd much rather hang with you and my friends."

Something still didn't sit right with Hyunjin. "Then why'd you hold his hand before I came over?"

Seungmin laughed, "It's not what you think. He was teaching me ways to flirt. It was a way for me to hold my crush's hand."

Seungmin saw Hyunjin's confused face and held out a fist, "Can you hold this?"

The taller was even more puzzled but he placed his hand out nonetheless He expected Seungmin to drop something in his hand, but instead the boy opened his fingers from the fist and held Hyunjin's hand.

"That was what Hwajoon was teaching me and why he was holding my hand." Seungmin chuckled.

Hyunjin let out a breath and relaxed after hearing the explanation. He was jealous for nothing. "You could have just ask to hold my hand." Hyunjin squeezed Seungmin's hand which caused him to blush. "Do you have to sit next to him?" The gang member pouted.

Seungmin playfully rolled his eyes and flicked his crush's pout. "Yes I do, so stop being jealous. Let's go before the principal finds out I left Hwajoon alone." Hyunjin groaned as Seungmin pulled him back to the lunchroom

They walked inside the cafeteria while holding hands, which caught a lot of attention from everyone in the lunchroom. Seungmin causally sat back down with Hwajoon who was confused as to what just happened. Hyunjin secretly sent a glare to Hwajoon and walked back to his table.

When Hyunjin arrived at his table, everyone's eyes were on him with a confused expression. They all waited and expected Hyunjin to explain what happened, but the tall boy just sat down and acted like he didn't just storm out of the cafeteria dragging Seungmin with him and walk back in the cafeteria holding hands with him.

"Uh," Minho started and Hyunjin looked at him. "What the hell was that?"

"What?" Hyunjin acted clueless, he shrugged and went back to eating his food, ignoring everyone's stare on him.

"Cut the bullshit. Why the hell did you drag Seungmin out of the cafeteria and then walk back in holding hands? What happened when you were gone?" Chan wasn't in the mood for Hyunjin's dumb act, he wanted to know everything.

"I might've realized that I have a small crush on Seungmin-"

Changbin scoffed, "Small?"

Hyunjin ignored his friend and continued with his story, "-and I got jealous because I saw Hwajoon hold his hand so I went over to their table and told Seungmin to follow me but he wouldn't get up so I took him to the rooftop and kissed him. I confessed to him and then he kissed me and confessed too. Then I asked him out on a date this Sunday and he said yes. Then I asked why he was hanging out with Hwajoon so much and he explained because he's being forced by the principle and here we are now."

Jisung, Felix, and Jeongin immediately stood up after hearing this and quickly walked over to where Seungmin was sitting. They were probably about to grill their friend for details and freak out.

"I told you you like Seungmin. You never listen." Minho scoffed and Hyunjin rolled his eyes.

Yedam gave Chan a twenty dollar bill and Hyunjin scoffed "You guys bet on me?"

"Yep. After you left the cafeteria with Seungmin, I said that you finally grew some balls and were going to confess but Yedam didn't think you did and denied that you were gonna confess, so we bet on it."

Hyunjin looked at the younger with a playful hurt expression, "Yedam" He gasped, "How could you not believe in me? I'm a little hurt."

Yedam jokingly rolled his eyes at Hyunjin's dramaticness, "How could _you_. I thought you weren't gonna confess today. I thought you were still gonna be stubborn. You just made me lose twenty dollars."

Hyunjin scoffed, "Never mind. I'm glad you lost the money." Yedam gasped and threw a grape at Hyunjin and he threw it back making the younger flinch.

"Ok, ok, enough with the food throwing. You guys just wasted a perfectly normal grape and I'm not about to have you guys waste more food." Woojin sighed while leaning his head on Chan's shoulder. Yedam and Hyunjin laughed, saying "Sorry Woojin hyung."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> sorry for the awkward end to the chapter. i didn't know how else to end it.
> 
> anyways seungjin finally confessed hehehe
> 
> also how do you guys feel about cliffhangers?
> 
> next chapter is juuuicyyyy. hehe i'm excited for y'all to read it.
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- he did not just tell him  
\- i smell drama stirring ;)  
\- ah shit here we go again pt 3
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)
> 
> hehe stay tuned


	25. t w e n t y f o u r .

In the morning, Jeongin and Seungmin walked over to Felix and Jisung as they always did when the pair arrived at school, but this time Seungmin looked happier than usual.

"What's got you so happy today?" Felix wiggled his eyebrows.

"I'm sure it has to do with a special someone." Jisung shouldered Seungmin who just pushed his friend away from him.

Jeongin tapped his chin, "Someone who's name rhymes with bwang byungjin."

The tall male rolled his eyes at how idiotic Jeongin sounded. "Yes and no, I'm also happy that I don't have to hang with Hwajoon anymore and I can hang with you guys again."

"You make him sound like he's the actual devil and that hanging out with him was hell." Felix snorted.

"Because he is and it was." Seungmin said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Jeongin scoffed, "I saw how you were laughing with him during lunch."

Seungmin raised his eyebrows, "Oh you were able to to look at my direction during lunch?"

The younger gave a confused look, "Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"Because you were staring at Yedam so much, I genuinely believed your neck was stuck in that position and you weren't able to look in any direction except Yedam's."

Jeongin's ears turned bright red as Jisung and Felix laughed with their whole chest and high fived Seungmin. This only embarrassed Jeongin even more which worsened his condition as his face looked like a ripe strawberry. Jisung and Felix were in tears from laughing so hard.

"Speaking of Yedam-"

"No! Stop talking about him already." Jeongin groaned, cutting Seungmin off.

"-how was the tutoring session yesterday?"

Jeongin looked down to cover his already red face. "It was fine." He muttered. "I just taught him math."

The others looked at each other with the same facial expression. They all knew Jeongin was hiding something. "Why don't you look at us?"

Jeongin glanced up for a split second but that was all it took for his three friends to see the state his face was in.

"Oh so something _did_ happen." Felix used a teasing tone.

"Spill now." Seungmin demanded.

"Nothing big happened, I'm just being dramatic. It probably meant nothing to him, but he asked for my phone number so he could contact me if he ever had questions on the math homework." Jeongin shrugged it off.

Jisung gasped dramatically, "You have _the_ Bang Yedam's phone number? Oh my gosh, how lucky you are, what an honor."

The younger male rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Minho's boyfriend." Jisung chuckled. "Also not very fond with the fact that you all got boyfriends in the span of a week and I'm the only single one here now."

"You're five. You don't need a boyfriend." Jisung said at the same time Seungmin said, "You could have a boyfriend too if you would grow a pair and ask Yedam."

Jeongin's looked back and forth between the two. "Forget I said anything."

"Also I don't have a boyfriend, I have a date." Seungmin corrected.

The youngest scoffed. "Yeah not yet. We all know by the end of that date, you're going to have a boyfriend."

"Well, by the end of this tutoring thing you have with Yedam, you'll get a boyfriend too." Felix tried to be the optimist.

"We don't even know if the guy likes me." Jeongin pointed out.

"Trust me, he will by the end of it."

-

During lunch Yedam and the four friends sat together and the gang joined once they arrived at school like usual. In the middle of lunch, Minho told the rest that he was going to the bathroom as he got up to leave the cafeteria. While Minho was walking in the hallway to the bathroom, someone called out, "Hey Minho."

The latter turned around and saw the new kid. He couldn't remember his name, "What." He said irritated.

"You know, you're really hot." Hwajoon bit his lip as he walked closer to Minho.

The gang member wanted to gag but he rolled his eyes, "So I've been told. If that's what you stopped to tell me then you're wasting my time." Minho turned around to continue his way to the bathroom.

"Wait!" Hwajoon shouted making Minho groan loudly as he turned around.

"What the fuck do you want?" He said annoyed.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over after school and talk, you know, get to know each other... and I don't know, maybe do more." He winked which made Minho want to burn his eyes. Hwajoon continued smirking, "Because I think we suit each other and we'd make a hot couple if we dated."

Minho started to laugh mockingly at Hwajoon which turned the boy's smirk into a frown. "I'm not interested and I will never be interested in you. You're definitely not my type."

"I'm obviously your type! There's no one else in this school who would look good with you as much as I would. It's almost like I was made for yo-"

"Are you done? Because you're really wasting my time with this bullshit." Minho interrupted. Hwajoon opened his mouth to say something else but Minho rolled his eyes again and walked away, not stopping when Hwajoon called his name out. All Minho wanted to do was go to the bathroom and return back to his boyfriend as quickly as he could.

-

The rest of the day went normally for Jisung. The first three classes went by painfully slow but after lunch, the day flew by, mostly because he had Minho there to accompany him. Of course after school Minho had things to do with the gang so they bid goodbye and went their own ways. 

Hwajoon was at his locker, packing his backpack when he felt an aura next to him. He expected it to be a girl who would try to flirt with him but when he looked up, it was a male. Hwajoon recognized the guy, he was in his classroom but he didn't know his name.

"Hey?" The new kid broke the silence awkwardly.

"Hey, my name's Soobin." The guy spoke.

"I'm Hwajoon... Why are you here Soobin?" He spoke slowly.

"I know something that could help you." Soobin leaned against the lockers.

Hwajoon closed his locker and slung his backpack on his shoulders. "What do you mean?"

"I noticed you have a crush on someone."

The new kid raised his eyebrow, "Really? And who do I have a crush on?"

"Minho."

Hwajoon's eyes opened wide. "H-how did you-"

Soobin chuckled walking towards the stairs. Hwajoon eagerly followed him, "It's not hard to notice. Everyone at this school likes him."

Hwajoon stayed silent. Many thoughts were going through his head. _Am I that obvious?_ Soobin opened the door to the rooftop and walked through it, closing it behind Hwajoon.

"I also overheard your conversation with him during lunch." Soobin admitted.

Hwajoon scowled at the mention of what happened at lunch. "It doesn't even matter. He said he's not interested in me. Which I find very hard to believe because I mean look at me. Why wouldn't he want me?" The new kid scoffed.

Soobin shrugged, "I don't know, maybe because he has his eyes on someone else already."

Hwajoon narrowed his eyes at the person in front of him. "Who could he possibly be crushing on when there's someone like me to crush on?"

If Soobin had to hear Hwajoon boast about himself one more time, then he was going to break his own arm. He put a fake smile on his face, "Think about it. Who does he sit with at lunch?"

The other male thought about it. He's stared at Minho enough times to know his daily routine and to take note of the people he hung out with. "Uh Chan, Woojin, Hyunjin, Changbin, Seungmin, Jeongin, and three other irrelevant people."

Soobin rolled his eyes, "You're not from around here are you?" Hwajoon shook his head. "Well one of the three 'irrelevant' people, is Chan's brother, another one is dating Changbin, the last one is Minho's crush. Not as irrelevant as you think."

Hwajoon scrunched you his face,_ Minho's crush?_ He recalled back to the first day he came to this school. He thought about lunch when he sat with Seungmin and Jeongin, and two people walked over to their table. One being Minho and the other being one of Seungmin's friend. He sat next to Minho in class and raised his hand a lot, he knew the answers to all the questions the teachers asks. The nerd. No way was _the nerd _the one who Minho liked.

"What was his name?" Hwajoon mumbled to himself.

"I'll give you a hint, his name's Jisung." Soobin chimed in.

Everything suddenly clicked for Hwajoon. "There's no way Minho likes _him_." He looked disgusted. He started pacing back and forth, "He could do so much better. What does Minho even see in him? Jisung's scrawny and not even that hot. There isn't any potential in him! He'll totally just bring down Minho and ruin his reputation. I need to help Minho realize he can do so much better before he makes a move on _that_ guy."

"Actually, you're a little bit late. Jisung and Minho are already dating." Soobin said casually.

Hwajoon stopped pacing and froze for a moment before he laughed out loud, "Good one. I believed you for a second there." He said in between each wheeze.

"I'm telling you the truth."

"No you're not, you can stop lying now." Hwajoon shook his head, making Soobin want to smash his head.

_Why are you so fucking dumb oh my god. _Soobingroaned to himself.

"Jisung told me himself."

Hwajoon froze again and pointed at the other, "That's a lie. No they are not."

Soobin sighed, "Why else do you think Minho's not interested in you? Because he's dating Jisung. If you still don't believe me then you can even ask Jisung himself."

There was fire in Hwajoon's eyes, "Oh I will, just wait till he comes to school tomorrow." He growled.

"You didn't hear it from me though. Do what you want with the information." Soobin winked and then walked to the door, laughing to himself.

_Tomorrow's gonna be fun. _Soobin thought to himself.

"You're not gonna get away with this Jisung." Hwajoon said through his clenched jaw.

-

Jisung woke up and wanted to go back to sleep again. He didn't want to go to school today and was actually considering skipping since he didn't have any important tests or anything, but he knew that his siblings wouldn't let him stay home. Jisung also wanted to see Minho again so he dragged his ass out of bed and got ready.

When Felix and Jisung arrived at school, Seungmin and Jeongin walked up to them like usual. Not even two minutes later a voice boomed through the hallways, yelling "JISUNG!"

Everyone in the hallway quickly snapped their attention to the mentioned boy. Jisung looked at his friends who had a similar confused face. He pointed to himself, not sure if this person was calling out for him because there was absolutely no reason for it to be him. Jisung looked around and saw all eyes on him which made him want to shrivel up and die.

"HAN JISUNG WHERE ARE YOU?" The voice yelled again but it was closer this time.

Before Jisung could register what was happening, the owner of the voice was stomping down the hallway with his eyes locked on Jisung. The boy wanted to run and hide but his feet wouldn't move and stayed in the same spot. In no time, Hwajoon stood in form of him and he looked beyond pissed. Jisung was confused on what he did to make the new kid so mad.

"Is it true?!" Hwajoon said. The entire school campus was dead quiet so everyone could hear the conversation that was talking place between Hwajoon and Jisung as his voice echoed through the hallway.

"I-is what true?" Jisung played with his fingers nervously.

"Don't act dumb. Are you dating Lee Minho?" He asked loud and clear. If Hwajoon didn't have everyone's attention before, he definitely had it now. Everyone wanted to know the answer. They suspected that the two were dating but no one knew for sure if they were.

Jisung's eyes widened, "H-how'd you know?"

The whole school gasped and Hwajoon scoffed. Most of the students' shock was replaced by anger and jealousy, but they didn't do anything because they knew what would happen if they did. There were a few students who's minds were taken over by their jealousy and anger towards Jisung though. They stepped out of the crowd and walked up behind Hwajoon so they could also give the poor kid a piece of their mind, not thinking about the consequences that would come with it.

"You're lying." Hwajoon concluded. "Minho's not dating you. You probably paid him or something. He would never date you voluntarily. You were definitely a bet."

While Hwajoon was saying this, Felix quickly walked into an empty classroom and dialed his boyfriend's phone number.

"Pick up. Please pick up." Felix muttered to himself, pacing back and forth.

"Felix?" He heard Changbin day from the other line.

"Changbin pass the phone to Minho now!" Felix quickly said.

Changbin heard the eagerness in his boyfriend's voice and immediately sensed something wasn't right. "Why what's wrong?"

"Changbin please just hurry up and pass the phone to Minho." Felix practically begged.

The next thing he heard was Minho saying "Hello?"

"Minho come to school now."

"Felix? What why?" Felix could hear the confusion in his voice.

"Hwajoon found out you and Jisung are dating and he basically told the whole school and you can probably guess what's happening right now." Felix quickly explained.

There was a pause before he heard, "I'll be there in 5 minutes." The tone of Minho's voice gave Felix shivers. It was uncomfortably calm, but there was an underline of sheer anger and Felix knew better than to think that Minho was calm, on the inside, the gang member was definitely the complete opposite. The purple haired male was almost scared for Hwajoon.

When Felix arrived back to the scene, Jisung was still getting rude remarks and the group of people backing up Hwajoon, became bigger.

"Why would Minho even want to date you? You're nothing compared to him. You're just gonna bring his reputation down. Minho has to have at least some standards." An annoying bitch said.

"Exactly, you're just weighing him down. You don't deserve to date him." Another girl said.

"Who do you even think you are? You're just a nerd. Go back to reading the textbooks and studying your notes. Stop ruining someone else's life by making them hang out with _you._" A guy said.

After every comment, Jisung's self esteem just dropped a level and it wasn't that high to begin with. He hung his head down really low and started to question it himself.

"Minho should date someone that meets his looks, like me. I fit with him so much better." Hwajoon said and the group of people agreed.

Seungmin had enough, he was ready to bash everyone in the group and beat Hwajoon. "You won't after I'm done beating your face." Seungmin mumbled. He started to step forward but Jisung quickly stopped him in panic, shaking his head. Seungmin was about to protest but another guy started talking.

"You're not worth it Jisung. You should just break up with Minho because he's gonna break up with you sooner or later. Might as make it simpler for you and do it now."

The brown haired male closed his eyes and looked down. He could feel the tears starting to come as he started to doubt if he actually was good enough for Minho. Some of the things they said were true, Minho was better than him. Jisung doesn't deserve him.

As his first tear rolled down his face, the school doors slammed open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember when i had you guys choose between 🍓 or 🍒. well, majority chose strawberry and let me explain:  
at first, this chapter didn't leave off on a cliffhanger, instead the chapter continued and i wrote what happened after the doors slammed open, up until the end of the school day. then i debated whether or not to leave it off on a cliffhanger, so i had you guys choose for me.
> 
> 🍓: i was going to split the chapter into two and leave this chap as a cliffhanger  
🍒: there was gonna be no cliffhanger and i was going to continue this chapter until the school day was over
> 
> ^^see there was nothing to be scared of with the fruit voting ☺️☺️
> 
> just to clear things up, i know that skz just had a comeback (clé levanter is so fucking good btw. aoty right there) but in this story, their hair colors are gonna be the same from the double knot comeback :)
> 
> hehe i'm sorry to everyone who's upset at the fact that soobin's not a good person. i hope you're not mad :( who do you think soobin is tho? 👀
> 
> opinions on hwajoon and soobin?
> 
> in the next chapter:   
\- scared shitless  
\- even more drama  
\- he plays perfectly into the plan?
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	26. t w e n t y f i v e .

_Some of the things they said were true, Minho was better than him. Jisung doesn't deserve him._

_As his first tear rolled down his face, the school doors slammed open._

The loud noise echoed through the entire school and everyone jumped at the noise. They turned their attention to the entrance and saw five boys stomping towards the crowd. Minho was leading and he did not look happy at all, there was blue flames emanating from his entire body. Minho quickly spotted where his boyfriend was standing since he was right in the middle of everything. Jisung looked at his boyfriend with wide eyes and the gang member saw the tear that had fallen down Jisung's face, he felt his blood boil. Minho immediately walked over to Jisung and scanned his boyfriend, looking for cuts or bruises or anything that would've shown that he was physically hurt.

"Minho?" Jisung whispered in surprise.

"Tell us Minho. You're not _actually_ dating Jisung are you? You don't _actually_ like him right?" Hwajoon questioned, confident that Minho would agree to what he was saying. The gang member didn't spare a glance at Hwajoon, he kept his eyes on his boyfriend.

Instead of saying anything, Minho cupped Jisung's cheeks and connected their lips. The whole school gasped. Hwajoon and the group of people behind him, were taken aback as their jaws dropped. Jisung didn't notice the gasp from the students because all he could focus on was Minho and the kiss. It wasn't rough or lust filled. It was a gentle kiss that lingered for a few seconds, it ended almost as quickly as it started. Jisung hid his face in the crook of Minho's neck after realizing what they just did in front of the whole school. The gang member wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, fascinated at the fact that he could make Jisung flustered with just one kiss.

"Does that answer your question?" Minho looked at Hwajoon for the first time today. The new kid opened his mouth and closed it many times but never said anything, he was speechless.

A girl stepped forward. "B-but you should date someone who's good for you-"

"And what, you think you're good for me?" Minho snapped back at the girl. He laughed mockingly, "Hate to break it to you but I'm gay. And even if I was straight or bi, I would rather be tortured than date _you_."

The girl quickly shut her mouth and felt her cheeks heat up from the fact that she publicly got insulted by Minho. The group of students cowered under Minho's harsh glare and soon ran off, not wanting to know what will happen to them if they stuck around any longer, but also because they couldn't take the embarrassment or the glare anymore.

"Y-you aren't being serious are you?" Hwajoon tried to give Minho the benefit of the doubt. "_Him?_" The new kid pointed to Jisung, making the latter unconsciously loosen his grip on Minho and look down.

Fury roared through Minho's mind at the disrespect that Hwajoon was showing. Before the new kid could flinch or before Jisung could stop him, Minho let go of Jisung and appeared in front of Hwajoon. Minho brought his hand back and gave the arrogant male in front of him, a five star slap to his left cheek. The force of Minho's hand was so powerful that the impact of his hand against Hwajoon's cheek not only made the boy's head snap to right, but it also made Hwajoon lose his balance as he fell to the floor with a thud. The sound of the slap echoed through the halls and everyone cringed at how painful that slap was.

"Don't _ever _fucking talk to my boyfriend like that. You are absolutely _no one_ to be disrespecting him." Minho spat at the boy on the floor who was rubbing his cheek, thinking it would evaporate the pain away. He didn't look up at Minho, he was too afraid to. The absolute pure fear was evident in Hwajoon's eyes and he was shaking on the ground.

Minho looked like he was about to kick Hwajoon so Jisung quickly grabbed Minho's hand. The latter looked at his boyfriend. "Don't waste your time on him anymore." Jisung told him softly.

Minho contemplated if he should proceed to punch the bastard or to leave him alone. Ultimately he sighed and nodded, he couldn't not listen to his boyfriend after he told him so nicely. Minho turned back to Hwajoon. "Keep a ten feet distance range from Jisung. If I see you any closer than that then I won't hesitate to pound you to the fucking dirt. Don't talk to me or him or about him if you know what's good for you." Minho spat. "Do you understand?"

Hwajoon quickly nodded, fearing for his life. Minho turned back to Jisung and held his hand, taking him to their classroom. Hyunjin, Seungmin, Felix, and Changbin close behind.

While being dragged away, Jisung could hear Chan telling everyone in the hall, in the deepest tone he's ever heard, "Don't fucking touch Jisung, Felix, or Seungmin. If anyone in the gang finds out that you hurt them mentally, physically or in any other way, then you better be on your fucking knees begging them for forgiveness before we find you and make you regret your life choices." The tone of Chan's voice was very familiar to Minho's when Felix told him everything, calm but there was an obvious underlining of a serious threat. The leader wasn't even talking to Jisung but the latter felt threatened. The coldness of the older male's voice sent chills down Jisung's spine and he was lowkey scared for everyone.

"Baby are you ok?" Minho worriedly asked his boyfriend once they were in the classroom.

Jisung nodded, "I'm fine." But Minho didn't believe him. Jisung saw the worry still evident in the other's eyes and gave a smile to reassure that he was actually ok.

"I'm gonna kill that motherfucker." Minho mumbled under his breath.

"No you are not." Jisung placed his hand on Minho's chest to calm him down and the other frowned at him. Jisung pecked Minho's lips. "Don't worry about him. He's not gonna bother us anymore, not after you scared him half to death." Jisung giggled.

"Fine. But if he ever talks to you then please tell me." Minho asked.

"Deal." Minho finally relaxed. "You almost just killed him though, I'm surprised he lived through that slap." Jisung said making the gang member snort.

"I didn't even hit him that hard."

Jisung scoffed and grabbed Minho right hand, observing it. His palms were bright red and it looked like it was throbbing, "Oh my god, is your hand okay? Do you want me to get an ice pack from the nurses office?"

Minho chuckled and grabbed Jisung's hands to get his attention. "Trust me, my hand doesn't hurt. I know it looks really bad but I promise you, I feel no pain. Hwajoon's the only one in a lot pain." Minho said once Jisung made eye contact with him.

The shorter nodded before asking, "Why are you at school? Didn't you guys have things to do?"

"We did, but Felix called and told me what was happening and I came here as fast as I could."

Felix's head popped up at the mention of his name and Jisung ran to him, engulfing him in a hug.

"Thank you." Jisung said against Felix's chest.

"For what?" Felix confusedly returned the hug.

"For calling Minho."

Felix finally understood what Jisung was talking about. He squeezed him tighter. "No need to thank me. I didn't want you to experience what I went through."

"And you!" Jisung pulled away from Felix and turned to Seungmin, pointing his finger at the boy. The taller boy looked at Jisung with his eyes opened wide.

"What'd I do?"

"You can't go fighting Hwajoon. I don't want you to get hurt." Jisung pouted.

Seungmin stared at the boy, "You think Hwajoon will get the chance to hurt me?" He was kind of offended of his friend's lack of belief in him.

Jisung snorted, "No, I know Hwajoon wouldn't get a chance to swing back at you. I meant, I didn't want your hands to get all bruised and sore from hitting Hwajoon too much."

"No promises. If Hwajoon comes back at you when Minho isn't there, then I'm gonna be the one punching him back in his place." Seungmin shrugged.

Jisung gave a warm smile, he hugged his tall friend, "I love you Minnie."

Seungmin returned the hug, smiling. "Yeah yeah, I love you too Ji."

Suddenly everyone started to walk into the classroom, spooking Jisung a little bit from the noise of the door opening. Minho was quickly at his boyfriend's side for protection but the students walked in with their eyes on the floor, too afraid to make eye contact with any of them after what just happened and after Chan's threat. They didn't mean any harm to the six boys. The students were scared to move, they didn't want to accidentally do anything that would offend the the boys. Hwajoon came last, he sat at his desk as quickly as he could. He kept his head down and didn't lift it up until the teacher came in, ignoring everyone's stare on him. On his left cheek, there was a bright red outline of Minho's hand that was very evident compared to the normal fair skin he had.

-

During lunch no one dared to look anywhere near the gang's table. No one sat at the tables next to them either, everyone tired to sit as far away from them as possible, even if it meant sitting on the floor.

Jeongin almost tackled Jisung in a hug, surprising the latter. "Woah Jeongin. I'm going to die if you don't loosen your grip." Jisung laughed.

Jeongin immediately loosened his grip. "I'm sorry. I was worried about you."

"I'm fine. Seriously." Jisung smiled.

"Are you sure?" The younger pouted.

Jisung flicked his pout, "No pouting, I'm okay and I'm not hurt or anything. Now go sit next to your boyfriend." He smirked.

Jeongin's eye widened at Jisung and the brown haired male started laughing. The younger frantically looked at Yedam, checking if he heard what his friend had just said. Luckily, Yedam was too busy talking with Woojin to hear what was said. Jeongin let out a giant breath of relief and glared at Jisung.

"I can't believe you just said that. That was so loud, he could've heard it." Jeongin whispered aggressively.

"I wish he did." Jisung imitated Jeongin's whisper. "Maybe I should hint some things..."

Jeongin narrowed his eyes at his friend, "I'm watching you. Don't you dare do anything or I swear to god, I will fall off the face of this planet."

Jisung held his hands up in surrender, "I won't, I won't! I'm just playing with you, now go sit next to your crush."

Jeongin rolled his eyes at Jisung before he sat down next to Yedam.

The rest of the school day went by peacefully. No one bothered the group anymore, Hwajoon left for the day at lunch. Once the last bell rang, everyone in the classroom rushed to get out. They wanted to leave as soon as possible, not wanting to be in the same room as the gang members anymore, scared that they would do something that would result in a bad way.

"Oh my gosh. You really scared them." Jisung said amused.

"Good. Now they won't mess with you." Minho smiled.

Minho leaned back against his desk, waiting for Jisung to gather all his things. "I hope you didn't forget about our date tomorrow." He said once his boyfriend faced him.

"Date? What date?" Jisung joked making the gang member scoffed at him.

Jisung smiled, "How could I forget? I was looking forward to it all week."

"I'll pick you up at 4. Wear something comfortable."

"Will do."

-

"Wait wait wait, so what happened?" Yeonjun asked totally lost. He was speaking for the whole gang since no one was catching on to what the leader was saying.

The boss growled and slammed his hand on the table. "How do you not understand this? It's not that hard to grasp. I'm going to explain this _one_ last time. At JYP High school, Hwajoon exposed to the whole school that Minho and Jisung are dating. Hwajoon and a group of other people started to bully Jisung and bring down his self esteem. Out of nowhere the doors slammed open and Stray Kids marched in. Minho immediately noticed Jisung and quickly went to his side. Hwajoon asked if they were really dating and if he actually liked Jisung. Minho suddenly kissed Jisung and totally went off on Hwajoon and the group of people for what they were doing to Jisung. The group ran away like cowards and Hwajoon got slapped in the face by Minho. Then Chan basically threatened everyone at school that if they harmed Jisung and his friends then they would for sure regret it."

"Okay... Why are you telling us. We already know that they're dating, so why is this story important?" Taehyun asked, not understanding the point of the story.

"Because, this is the first time Minho has stood up for someone who was getting bullied. Usually he just ignores it like it isn't his problem."

"Well no duh..." Keonhee thought it was obvious that Minho would stick up for Jisung since they're dating, so why was this a big deal?

"And, it shows that he actually really cares for Jisung. This is perfect for our plan. We can use this to our advantage." Hwanwoong answered for the boss, finally understanding what he was trying to say.

"Yes exactly." The leader said, glad that at least someone in his gang had a brain cell. Everything clicked inside the gang's minds and they all knew why this story was important.

"So what's our first move?" Yeonjun asked excited.

"Nothing." The boss deadpanned. Yeonjun looked around the room to see if the other members had heard what he had heard. It seemed like they did since everyone was equally as confused as Yeonjun. "Uh... What?"

"We can't do anything... At least not yet."

"What do you mean? Yes we can." Beomgyu replied with confusion and the members all seemed to agree with what he said. The whole gang thought their boss was crazy, he's been wanting this for so long and now that he has someone to use, he's just going to keep waiting? No where did that make sense.

"We have to wait until we are one hundred percent sure that Minho is in love with him." The boss said slowly.

"Are you listening to yourself? You just explained a whole story about how Minho stood up for Jisung and threatened the whole school, when he's never done that before. Also note the fact that he's never had a boyfriend, let alone showed any interest in liking anyone ever, and you're still not one hundred percent sure that he's in love with Jisung? What's not clicking?" Yeonjun was not following his bosses train of thought.

"Yeah I'm pretty sure that he's in love with Jisung." Huening Kai said as it was the most obvious thing ever. "Why can't we just start the plan already? I'm getting bored. He fits perfectly in the plan, especially for _you_. What more do you need?" He told the boss.

"Because you're 'pretty sure' that he's in love with Jisung. You're not one hundred percent sure." The boss could see in his member's faces that they were doubting him, which made him angry at their lack of trust in him. "Don't question anything I'm doing! We have to do this perfectly, there is _no _room for mistakes. Do you understand?"

The members' eyes widened at their boss's sudden outburst. They looked down and nodded, showing that they wouldn't doubt their leader anymore.

"Good. I'll tell you guys when something else happens at the school. Until then, don't do anything stupid." He growled before he left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise! okay so i was gonna update on tuesday or friday but everyone was begging me to update so i stayed up late last night editing this chapter just so i could update today :)
> 
> i really hope it met your expectations and that you aren't disappointed !!
> 
> who do you think the boss is?
> 
> the last half of this chapter was kind of a filler so sorry for this chapter not being as eventful and for it being short.
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- the date  
\- will jisung grow some balls and ask minho about his scars?
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	27. t w e n t y s i x .

Jisung woke with jitters in his stomach. He was ecstatic for his date with his boyfriend but his nerves also started to eat away at him. The day went by painfully slow, slower than the days he spent in the hospital and that was saying something.

Finally it was three o'clock and it was time for Jisung to get ready. He took a shower and got dressed in some jeans and a sweatshirt. He didn't try hard since Minho had told him to dress comfortably. As Jisung was waiting for his boyfriend to pick him up, he got a notification from his phone. Thinking it was Minho, he quickly checked his phone but instead of seeing his boyfriend's name, he saw his annoying friend's name.

**seungmean**  
have fun on your date ;)

**yongyongbokie**  
tell minho that i expect you  
to be home at 9 sharp

**jisung**  
you guys are so annoying  
my siblings aren't even like this

**yongyongbokie**  
speaking of your siblings  
do they know you're dating  
minho

**jisung**  
do your parents know  
you're dating changbin?

**yongyongbokie**   
... touché

**the child**  
are you ever going   
to tell them

**jisung**  
of course i'm going to tell them  
i'm not gonna explain who minho  
really is bc they're never gonna   
let me date him if they did find out

**seungmean**  
they don't already know?

**jisung**  
hell no  
they only know of stray kids  
they don't know who's apart of it

Coincidentally his sister walked down the stairs. "Why are you dressed up. Where are you going?" Jihyo asked once she saw Jisung.

**jisung**  
oh god my sister came downstairs   
and asked where i was going  
it's starting guys

**yongyongbokie**   
lmaooo good luck

**seungmean**  
good luck bitch

**the child**  
good luck hyung

Jisung turned off his phone and looked up at his sister who came down and sat next to him on the couch. He took a deep breath. He shouldn't even be nervous but his sister's stare made it seem like he did something wrong.

"I am going on a date." He said quickly, avoiding eye contact.

Jihyo's eyes widen in shock and she jumped up from the couch screaming and clapping.

"You're going on a date?!!! Oh my god with who?!! I didn't know you were seeing someone! How come I didn't know about this until right now?" She felt kind of betrayed that her younger brother didn't tell her anything until now but first she wanted all the details.

Jisung's brother heard his sister scream everything and now he was rushing down the stairs. "Hold up! You have a date?"

Jisung smiled and nodded his head, making his sister squeal in excitement while his brother looked amused. "With who?" He asked.

"His name is Minho."

"Minho? Where have I heard that name from?" Brian asked while furrowing his eyebrows. He started thinking hard, trying to recall where he has heard that name before.

Jisung's heart fell to his ass cheeks. _He knows. He knows Minho's in Stray Kids. That's it. They're gonna make me break up with Minho and then they're gonna throw my ass to the depths of hell._

"Wait, it's that guy who brought you home while you were hurt!" Jihyo finally realized.

"Oh yeah!" Brian remembered and everything made sense.

"Yeah him!" Jisung said calmly but in reality his heart rate slowed down, he stopped sweating and let out the deep breath he was holding in.

"Awwww, you're going on a date with the guy who saved you. That's so sweet. I already approve of him." His sister gushed.

_Eh we'll see about that when you find out who he really is._

"Tell him he better bring you home by 9 sharp." Brian said sternly, trying to use his best strict dad voice.

Jisung rolled his eyes. "Felix said the exact same thing."

"Oh my Jesus. Why are you wearing _that _on your date?" Jihyo shrieked while pointing at Jisung's outfit, horrified.

The youngest rolled his eyes and swatted his sisters finger away from him. "He said to wear something comfortable so please, I don't need your judgement."

Jisung's phone buzzed and he prayed that it was Minho here to save him from this conversation with his siblings. It seemed like the world was on his side because when he checked his phone it was a text from his boyfriend, telling him that he was outside his home.

"Oh would you look at that. Minho's here. I have to go." Jisung rushed to the door.

"Wait let me talk to him." Brian said getting up.

"Oh absolutely not." Jisung slammed the door shut and basically ran to Minho's car, rushing inside.

"He-"

"Go!!" Jisung interrupted Minho's greeting not taking his eyes off his front door.

Minho looked at his boyfriend with a look of confusion. "Wha-"

"Go go go! Drive! Get out of here!" He demanded Minho while pointing down the road. He could see his brother opening the front door and speed walking down the driveway to the car. "Minho oh my god you need to step on that pedal before I do it for you."

"Ok damn." Minho finally drove away from Jisung's house and his brother. When they were at a far enough distance from his house, Jisung sank into the seat and let out a sigh.

"Oh hey Jisung. What the hell was that?" Minho wanted an explanation on why his boyfriend was acting like this.

"Sorry m-" Jisung stopped mid sentence once he saw Minho. This was the first time he was actually looked at him today and boy was he beautiful. He wasn't even wearing anything fancy, he just wore a crew neck and jeans but he was so effortlessly beautiful, it was unreal. His hair was landed so perfectly on his forehead and Jisung couldn't take his eyes off of him.

"I know I'm beautiful but I want to know what just happened. After that then you can admire me." Minho half joked, bringing Jisung back from his trance.

The boy blushed and looked away, embarrassed at the fact that he got caught by his boyfriend. "I wasn't admiring you." He mumbled.

"Yes you were and don't worry if I wasn't driving then I would be staring at your beauty too." Minho's comment made Jisung cover his face to his the redness. Minho glanced over at his boyfriend and saw his red ears. He laughed at Jisung's cuteness. "Tell me why you wanted me to get away from your house so quickly."

"Because my brother was coming down the driveway to talk to you and I really didn't want him to embarrass me."

Minho laughed when he heard the explanation. "Oh my god you're so cute."

The compliment made Jisung turn bright red as he lightly punched Minho's shoulder. "Can you tell me where we're going?" He said, changing the subject before he could get more red which was probably impossible.

"That's a surprise." Minho replied.

The response made Jisung groan. "You're so cliché. That's no fun."

"Call me what you want but I'm still not gonna tell you where we're going."

"Fine. How long's the drive."

"We're like a third of the way there."

"To where?" Jisung asked once more.

"To the-" Minho quickly caught himself. "I'm not telling you."

"Ugh." Jisung almost got Minho to expose the location. He slumped in the seat, pouting.

Minho could tell his boyfriend was getting all pouty with him since he wouldn't tell him where they were going so he reached over and grabbed Jisung's hand with his. He brought it up to his lips and he softly kissed the back of Jisung's hand.

"I'm sorry I'm not telling you but I promise it'll be worth it."

"Fine, you're lucky I like you." Jisung secretly smiled.

At some point during the ride Minho told Jisung to reach into the glove box and grab the blindfold to put on. Jisung gave Minho a look.

"Are you gonna lead me through an obstacle for revenge?" Jisung said jokingly, thinking back to the day where Minho almost had a panic attack.

The gang member chuckled lightly, "Just trust me Jisung."

"I'm getting deja vu for some reason." Jisung said sarcastically as he put the blindfold on.

Five minutes later Minho finally parked somewhere and he told Jisung to stay in the car. Jisung obeyed, not wanting to step outside with no vision or assistance. Suddenly he heard his side of the car door open.

"I'm going to lead you to the destination. Do you trust me?" Minho's voice asked.

"Yes." Jisung said with no hesitation making Minho smile.

He grabbed Jisung's hands and led him somewhere. The walk was a short two minutes. He could hear feel the breeze and he could hear the splashing of the waves in the ocean.

"Ok you can take your blindfold off." At that Jisung immediately took off the black cloth that was covering his eyes. He let his eyes adjust to the brightness for a few seconds before he saw an expensive yacht in front of him. He looked at his surroundings and saw that he was on a dock with the ocean in front of him. His mouth fell open at the beautiful view. This was so surreal.

"This is beautiful." Jisung said in awe. "Is that yours?" He pointed to the yacht.

"No, it's technically Chan's, but we have it for the night." He smiled.

Jisung hugged his boyfriend. He could tell Minho was taken aback from the sudden hug attack but he quickly wrapped his arms around Jisung's waist and hugged him back.

"You're right. This was definitely worth the wait." Jisung said into Minho's neck.

"Let's go on the boat, shall we?" Minho smiled as he led Jisung onto the boat. He started the boat and steered it into the ocean.

"How do you know how to steer a yacht?" Jisung questioned.

"I know how to do a lot of things. I'm a man of many talents." Minho replied making Jisung roll his eyes and snort.

Jisung walked over to the rails of the yacht, watching as the water splashed against the boat. He saw how the docks started to get smaller as the yacht sailed further away from it. Jisung was enjoying the breeze flowing against his face, relaxing him. _How did __I__ get so lucky to be with Minho? What did __I__ do in __my__ past life to deserve him?_

Jisung really needed a day like this, calming and relaxing, especially after everything that happened in the week and he was glad that he was spending it with Minho. Suddenly he felt arms wrap around his waist, bringing back from his thoughts. He turned around and came face to face with his boyfriend.

"What're you thinking about?" Minho asked softly.

"About you." Jisung smiled.

The answer made the gang member break into a smile. He leaned down and connected his lips with Jisung's. They met in a sweet kiss that lingered for a bit. Minho pulled away making Jisung pout, he pulled Jisung to the couches that faced the ocean. They sat on the couch and the small boy cuddled into Minho, looking at the ocean.

"What made you think of bringing me on a date here?" Jisung asked, curious.

"Not gonna lie, I had help from your friends." He admitted. Jisung lifted his head from Minho's shoulder and looked at him in surprise.

"Who friends?"

"Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin. I really wanted to perfect this date so I went to them and asked for some ideas. They said you liked the water since it relaxes you and I figured you would've appreciated that after this hectic week." Minho explained.

Jisung wanted to cry. Not because he was sad but because he was so happy. No one has ever cared about him this much, other than his siblings and his friends. The fact that Minho went out of his way to contact his friends just to make this date as perfect as he could, showed how much he really likes Jisung and that made him want to cry.

"Why are you so perfect?" Jisung thought out loud.

"That's what I ask whenever I'm with you. I seriously don't know what I did to deserve you Jisung."

"Don't say that." Jisung rested his head back on Minho's shoulder and the gang member kissed the top of his boyfriend's head.

Jisung started playing with Minho's fingers. That's when he saw it again. The scars. The ones that circled around his wrists. The one that sparked Jisung's interest in Minho. Where did they come from? They looked painful but it looked like they were old scars, from a long time ago. Probably from when he was a child. Maybe that's why Minho never talked about his childhood. You can tell that the scars didn't heal properly. The redness around the scars and the deep indentation made it look a lot more painful than it probably was.

Jisung knew he shouldn't have but he couldn't help himself. He softly traced the scars with his finger tips. Minho flinched at the touch but relaxed his tension immediately. He let Jisung run his finger along his imperfection.

"You don't have to answer this question if you're not comfortable... but how did you get these? They aren't from fighting are they?" Jisung asked softly.

Minho sighed. He knew Jisung was going to ask sooner or later, it was inevitable. He saw how Jisung would looked at them whenever it was displayed. He could tell Jisung didn't want to be rude about it, he was just curious and Minho completely understood, but it just surprised him at first. No one ever wondered about them, they just assumed it was from fighting which Minho was thankful of. He wouldn't have to explain it or get questions about it, but Jisung was different. He tried to look at it when he thought Minho wasn't looking which was cute.

But the question was, was Minho ready to tell Jisung about it? Of course he trusted Jisung with his life, but he was scared that Jisung would see him differently. Minho knew that the boy wouldn't change his perspective on him from something that happened in that past, but he was still scared and ashamed of it.

He hadn't told anyone about them, not even all of the members in Stray Kids knows. The five people that he lived with were the only people he explained the full story to. Of course Minho told them, they were his best friends, but it was a long time ago and they've never talked about the situation again.

He wasn't ready to tell Jisung, not yet, not because of Jisung, but because of himself and his own embarrassment. He wanted to first get rid of that small doubt so he won't have that little fear in him. Minho just couldn't risk the very small chance of Jisung leaving him, but he also didn't want his boyfriend to think that he didn't trust him.

"No, they aren't from fighting. This happened when I was younger. I guess you could say that life wasn't very fair to me when I was a child." Minho started.

Jisung could tell that this was a sensitive subject for Minho and he appreciated how his boyfriend was trying to tell him even though he wasn't ready. But he wanted want Minho to tell him when he was ready, he didn't want him to feel forced.

Jisung kissed Minho's shoulder. "You don't have to tell me if you're not ready Minho. I understand, I'll wait until you are." He smiled sweetly.

Minho was extremely thankful for how understanding Jisung was. He really didn't deserve him. "I promise I'll tell you soon." Jisung nodded and looked back into the ocean, still playing with Minho's fingers.

The sun was setting and it was honestly the most beautiful sunset Jisung's ever seen. He was glad he was experiencing it with someone he cared a lot about.

"That is so pretty." Jisung said in awe.

"Yeah I agree." Minho said, but he wasn't looking at the sunset.

After the sun set, Minho steered the yacht back to the dock and tied it up. The couple walked back into the car. "Thank you. I really needed that." Jisung thanked.

"Oh the night's not over yet." Minho smiled.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Jisung looked at the time. _7:27 __P.M__._

"Our date's not over yet."

"Where else are you taking me?"

"To Seoul, we're just going to walk around maybe shop and eat a little. I'm not ready to take you home." Minho started up the car and started driving.

The time they spent in Seoul was extremely fun. They went to all different kinds of stores and bought some items for their closet. They ate a bunch of street food and watch all the street performances, just enjoying each other's company and getting to know more about each other. Jisung couldn't have wanted this day to be any different. It was absolutely perfect and it's been a while since he's felt this happy.

The drive back to his house was the most depressing part of the day. He didn't want to leave Minho and he didn't want this day to end.

"Thank you for this amazing day. It was perfect." Jisung smiled.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. You deserve everything." Minho smiled back.

Jisung felt his cheeks get hot and his heart melt. "Stop it."

Minho laughed, "I'll see you on Monday." He leaned over and pecked Jisung's lips.

"Bye Minho." Jisung said as he got out of the car. He walked into his house and was immediately bombarded with questions by his siblings.

"What happened?"

"What'd you do?"

"Where'd he take you?"

"Did you have fun?"

"Woah woah, slow down guys. He took me on a yacht ride and then took me to Seoul and we walked around and ate food and talked a lot. Yes I had a lot of fun." He answered smiling.

"Aww. You should bring him one day. I want to officially meet him." Jihyo said eagerly.

"You guys are going to embarrass me."

"Exactly, that's what siblings do best, so bring him." Brian said like it was so obvious.

Jisung scoffed and walked to the stairs. "I'm exhausted, I'm going to bed."

-

The next night Jisung received a FaceTime call from Seungmin and he immediately knew it was going to be a group call. He accepted the call and sure enough, three faces popped up on his laptop.

"I want to know everything that happened in both of your dates." Felix demanded immediately and Jeongin nodded along.

"I say that Jisung should go first." Seungmin volunteered for him, giving an evil smile. The other two nodded eagerly, agreeing with the one who suggested the idea.

"Fine." Jisung playfully acted annoyed but everyone knew that he was excited to tell them what happened.

After Jisung explained the entire date, everyone seemed deep in thought, making Jisung nervous for some reason. Almost like he was waiting for his friends approval of Minho.

"Well shit, I knew he was whipped for you but I didn't know he was such a romantic." Jeongin said in genuine shock.

"Yeah, you're bringing out a part of him that no one knew existed." Seungmin added on.

"Well you've _been_ bringing out parts of him that no one knew existed, but who knew there was more." Felix spoke.

Jisung furrowed his eyebrows, "You just answered that question in the same sent— You know what? Never mind." Jisung rubbed his temples "Also you little shits, what're you talking about? You're the one who gave him the idea."

"Whaaaaat? Pshh no we didn't." Jeongin denied, making Jisung shake his head.

"Why didn't you guys tell me?" Jisung pouted.

Seungmin rolled his eyes, "It's a date! Why would we tell you. Also all we told him was that you like the water because it calms you down. We thought he was going to take you on a walk around the beach, not take you on a fucking yacht to watch the sunset."

"He's the one who came up with everything, we helped with 1% of it." Felix admitted. Jisung smiled to himself, Minho was really whipped for him as much as he was whipped for the gang member.

"His scars must bring a really deep and dark memory for him to not tell you right now. I was absolutely certain that he would tell you whatever you wanted to know about him." Felix observed.

"Well he does tell me everything except that. I know it has something to do with his childhood or his parents because he never really talks about either of them. The only time frame I know is after he joined the gang. I honestly don't know how or why he joined it." Jisung chewed on his lip.

"So you don't know anything about the first half of his life? You only know the second half?" Seungmin summarized.

"If you put it like that it sounds a little sketchy." Jisung half heartedly chuckled.

"Minho's in a gang. Sketchy isn't something new with him." Seungmin pointed out, making Jisung snort.

"You're also the first person outside of the gang who he actually opened up to, as much as he did, so I don't really blame him for being cautious and not telling you everything." Felix added on.

"I have faith that he'll tell me at some point. He just needs time." Jisung believed and the others agreed. "Well what happened between you and Hyunjin?"

Seungmin didn't expect to suddenly be thrown in the spotlight like he just was. "Uhhh, um not much." He said causing his friends to roll their eyes.

"I don't have time for your stalling, hurry up and tell us." Jisung got impatient.

"Damn ok. He took me to an animal shelter and we played with all the animals, especially the dogs. Afterwards he took me out to dinner." Seungmin beamed.

The short boy smiled, he already approved of Hyunjin. If Jisung liked the water then Seungmin loved animals, more specifically dogs. Which meant that Hyunjin cared about Seungmin enough to remember the small details that the boy had told him, like the fact that he loved dogs. The date sounded like Seungmin's dream date and Jisung was glad that the boy got it.

"Why didn't you adopt any of them?" Felix joked as Seungmin glared at him.

"You know why I didn't adopt any of them. My brother's allergic. Hyunjin offered to buy me a dog and I was really attempted to say yes but I didn't. Partially because of Wonpil, but also because I didn't want him to spend money on me." He pouted.

"That is the sweetest thing ever." Jisung gushed.

"I tried to pay for dinner but as soon as the waiter placed the check on the table, I blinked and it vanished into Hyunjin's hands. I don't know how the hell that's possible."

"It's probably from being in a gang. You gotta be fast when you're in one." Jeongin shrugged.

"Oh he also asked me to be his boyfriend." Seungmin said as if it was nothing.

"WHAT!?"

"HE DID WHAT!?"

"HOW DO YOU LEAVE THE MOST IMPORTANT DETAIL OUT!?"

Seungmin laughed at his friends' reaction, "That's why. Why are you guys even surprised, y'all knew that he was gonna ask me out at the end."

"We didn't know for sure because your dumbass could've made him rethink everything." Jisung said making the taller boy roll his eyes.

"_Please _tell me you said yes." Felix begged.

Seungmin scoffed. "Of course I said yes. Who do you think I am?"

"How did all three of you manage to get a boyfriend in the spam of two weeks. Not mentioning them being apart of a gang and you being able to break their shell and convincing them to open up to you in a matter of a few days?" Jeongin said in disbelief.

"The same way you're going to get Yedam to fall for you too." Jisung smirked. "How's tutoring going?"

"It's going good. I'm kind of sad because he's actually understanding everything really quickly." Jeongin frowned.

"Uh, why is that sad?" Felix asked.

"Because then he won't need a tutor anymore and then we'll go back to being strangers and I won't be able to talk to him or admire him up close because I won't have a good reason to."

"Well there's always going to be new lessons everyday, so you'll need to explain to him how to do them. He'll still need you." Jisung pointed out.

"If worst comes to worst and he doesn't need a tutor anymore, he's still going to talk to you. He's not just gonna ignore you all of a sudden. You guys sit together at lunch. It's not like he's going to stop sitting with us because you sit there. That's ridiculous." Seungmin added.

"I just feel like nothing's happening. It still seems like he sees me as the adorable baby everyone else sees or just as a friend if I'm lucky." Jeongin pouted.

"Stop it. He's going to realize how amazing you are. You just need to give it some time. He can't be that oblivious. If so then I'm going to complain to Bang Chan."

"Oh god please don't. That would be embarrassing. Chan knowing that I like his little brother? He'd probably think it's gross." Jeongin begged.

"Actually he would probably think it's cute. He probably already knows that you like him. It's pretty obvious, I'm surprised that Yedam doesn't know. He may be more oblivious than you." Felix pointed out.

Everyone laughed as Jeongin groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n:
> 
> i hope the date exceeded your expectations and satisfied your needs. you're probs dissatisfied because minho didn't share the story behind his scars but it'll come soon, pls hold on for just a bit longer, it'll make sense later i promise :)
> 
> also your guys' comments make me laugh so much, they're one of the highlights of my day
> 
> anyways i hope you're excited for the next chapter because i'm really excited for you to read it. it's gonna be fun :))
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- ditched  
\- he invited who over?  
\- not gonna fall for it
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	28. t w e n t y s e v e n .

**A few weeks later**

It was finally Friday and Jisung was beyond happy about it. When he arrived to school with Felix, he saw his friends and his boyfriend standing near his locker.

"Hey guys!" Seungmin shouted, getting everyone's attention. The school was still getting used to the fact that Minho, Hyunjin, and Changbin were actually dating people. Not to mention that they're dating the smartest kids in school, no one saw that coming. Stray Kids seemed so invested with themselves that the students never really though they would ever date anyone. No one knew why Jisung, Seungmin, and Felix were so special, or how they were able to get so close to them and they were too scared to ask.

Jisung and Felix walked up their group of friends and Minho greeted his boyfriend with a kiss on the cheek which resulted in the boy beaming.

"Hey how was your morning?" Minho slung an arm around his boyfriend's shoulder.

"It's about to get better." Jisung replied.

Minho tilted his head and raised his eyebrows. "Oh really? Why's that?"

"Because it's Friday and we get to hang out today."

"What if I'm busy tonight?"

"Oh. Then that's okay." Jisung pouted, feeling his mood drop a little. Minho was quick to kiss his boyfriend's pout.

"I'm just kidding, no need to pout. I have something right after school but after that, I'm all yours." Minho smiled.

Jisung slightly pushed Minho away. "You're a dick."

Minho chuckled and pulled Jisung into a hug. "I'm sorry baby."

Hearing the endearment, Jisung couldn't stay fake mad at Minho any longer. He felt his cheeks burn up and he hid his face in the crook of his boyfriend's neck. Minho could feel the heat radiating off of Jisung's cheeks onto his neck and chuckled at his cute boyfriend.

"Stop flirting you two." It was Chan's voice. Jisung looked up at his group of friends and everyone had a disgusted look on their face.

"Oh shut up Chan hyung. Don't act like you haven't done this with Woojin hyung for the last three years while Changbin, Hyunjin and I had to watch, gagging." Minho snapped back.

"I mean he ain't wrong." Changbin agreed.

"Yeah he's got a point." Hyunjin snorted.

Chan placed his hand on his chest, pretending to be offended and Woojin kissed his temple, "Babe, you should've just stayed quiet." He laughed.

Jisung giggled at the conversation, looking around. Seungmin was standing next to Hyunjin and Felix stood next to Changbin, of course. Jeongin stood alone though, which wasn't the first time this week. Yedam started getting distant from the group for some reason. It started on Wednesday, he wasn't with the group in the morning. At first Jisung thought nothing of it but then lunch came around and he didn't sit with them either. He could tell by Jeongin's facial expression, that he too didn't know why his crush had suddenly ditched. Jisung tried to give Yedam the benefit of the doubt, but once Jisung looked around the cafeteria, he saw him sitting at another table with other guys. Probably his other friends? Jisung didn't know and he could tell Jeongin was really upset about it.

On Thursday it was the same. No Yedam at all. He sat with the same people at lunch and Jisung could tell by Jeongin's face and his sudden decrease in mood, that it was effecting his mood negatively. He wasn't the only one who noticed, Seungmin and Felix all noticed and showed concern for the younger boy. They all decided to ask their boyfriends about it but when they did, they all got the same answer.

"I don't know."

Which didn't help at all. How could they not know? They live with him and could just ask him about it, but none of the gang members showed concern about the situation. No one really acknowledged that Yedam just randomly stopped talking to them which made Jisung think it wasn't a big deal but the latter felt bad for Jeongin. He just wished that Yedam would stop ditching and come back soon so he could stop seeing his friend being so sad.

-

It was lunch time and Jeongin was dreading it. He didn't want to be surrounded by couples while his crush ditched him for three other people. It all happened so suddenly. One day everything was normal and Yedam talked to him like any other day, but the next day he acted like they were never friends, making Jeongin think it was all his fault.

_What did I do to make him ignore me? Did I do something wrong? I just want to know what I did._

Those three questions were all he could think of for the past few days. He replayed the last day Yedam hung out with them, over and over in his mind, trying to figure out what he could've said or done that would result in Yedam not wanting to talk to him anymore. On Wednesday, the day the dark haired male stopped hanging out with him, they had a tutor session which didn't go too bad. Other than the fact that Yedam barely looked at Jeongin. It almost seemed like he didn't want to be there and just wanted to go home as soon as possible, which hurt Jeongin's heart.

Thursday was the same as Wednesday. At lunch today, he sat with the same three people he did the previous days. Jeongin just accepted the fact that Yedam got annoyed with him and started to sit with other people. The pink haired male didn't know who his crush was sitting with, they were people from another class.

_He probably likes one of them. That's why he's sitting with them. God I'm so stupid for thinking I had a chance. Of course he doesn't think of me like that._

Jeongin stayed quiet for the rest of lunch and when he arrived in his classroom he sat down quickly and started writing something in his notebook. He tried to make it seem like he was busy so he wouldn't have to make awkward eye contact with Yedam when he walked into the classroom.

After class Jeongin walked over to his friends' lockers once he was done with at his own.

"Oh hey Jeongin. Don't you have to tutor someone?" Seungmin said when he saw the younger boy, which caused everyone to look at him.

"Yeah but I thought I'd talk with you guys until it's time because I don't want to wait in the boring library." Jeongin smiled.

"How's Yedam doing in tutor? Is he a pain yet?" Changbin asked chuckling.

"He's been a pain since the first day and it's gradually getting worse." Jeongin joked causing everyone to laugh.

"I'm going to tell him you said that Yang." Hyunjin threatened jokingly.

"Oh please do."

At the same moment, Jeongin felt a buzz from his phone. He looked at the notification and saw a text from Yedam asking where he was.

"I bet that's Yedam." Felix smirked.

"You better hurry. You don't want to keep him waiting." Jisung smirked.

"Good luck tutoring him. Have fun!" Minho said and the other two gang members snickered.

Jeongin bid goodbyes with the others and walked to the library. He dreaded this very moment. He just wanted to lie to Yedam and say that he was sick and that the tutor session was cancelled but he knew his crush wouldn't believe him.

_Why do I care if he believes me or not? He would probably be happy that if I cancelled on him._

At that moment Jeongin made up his mind. Neither of them wanted this tutor session to happen so why should he let it happen. He took out his phone and texted Yedam.

**jeongin**  
we can just cancel today's tutor  
session. you worked hard the past   
couple months, you deserve a day off.   
you're also doing good in math so you  
don't need today's session

Yedam replied back almost immediately.

**yedam**  
no wait. i don't need a day  
off. i really need today's session  
because i didn't understand the   
math lesson we learned today  
so i need you to teach it to me  
please.

Jeongin had mixed feelings about his response. Of course he was happy that Yedam wanted the tutor session but at the same time he was sad because it was just a reminder that he will never be more than a math tutor to Yedam and that the boy was not going to need Jeongin for anything else other than help for math.

**jeongin**   
ok i'm coming

When Jeongin arrived at the library he saw Yedam waiting for him at the table. Jeongin took a deep breath and walked over to him.

Yedam looked up from his phone and smiled at Jeongin which made the boy melt in the spot. "Hey Jeongin!"

"Hey Yedam." Jeongin smiled back. "Let's just get this over with quick." He mumbled as he sat down next to Yedam, starting the lesson but Yedam heard what Jeongin said.

During the entire tutor lesson, Jeongin noticed that Yedam wouldn't make eye contact with him, just like on Wednesday. If Jeongin didn't know better he would've thought Yedam was nervous but it seemed more like Yedam just didn't want to be there. He seemed more distant than before and Jeongin just didn't understand why.

Finally the tutor lesson was done and Jeongin started packing up his stuff, getting ready to leave.

"Uh Jeongin?" Yedam said hesitantly.

"Yeah?" Jeongin replied still packing up.

"Do you, want to go get some coffee?" Yedam asked.

Jeongin froze, not believing his ears. He had to be hallucinating. There was no way this was real.

"W-what?" He looked at Yedam and the latter actually made eye contact with Jeongin for once.

"I mean you don't have to if you don't want to." Yedam broke the eye contact and picked up his stuff.

Jeongin started to panic, Yedam was going to leave. "No wait!" Jeongin almost shouted which caused Yedam to stop and look at him. "I would love to get some coffee." The pink haired male smiled at his crush which caused him to break into a massive grin.

"Ok great! Let's go to Rock Cafe. I'm craving some of their desserts." Yedam headed out of the library and Jeongin followed close behind. They walked to Yedam's nice car and climbed in.

_How the hell does he have time to get his driver's license? And how does he have such a nice car? Oh wait his brother's the leader of the mafia. Of course he's rich._

"I'm sorry for asking you so suddenly. You probably have so much homework." Yedam didn't take his eyes off the road but you could tell just from his voice of how apologetic he was. Jeongin didn't understand why though.

"Don't apologize. I'm the one who accepted your offer. And plus, it's the weekend, I'll have plenty of time to finish my homework." Jeongin reassured.

They arrived at Rock Cafe and got out of the car. When Jeongin walked into the cafe his eyes scanned the place because he loved to look at the decor. Suddenly his eyes landed on three people that were sitting at a table who seemed all too familiar. He gave a closer look at the three and realized it was his friends.

_Oh hell no. They can't see me walk into this cafe with Yedam. They're no doubt going to tease me and embarrass me in front of him._

Jeongin full on panicked. They haven't noticed him yet and he wasn't sticking around any longer for them to notice him so he turned around and speed walked out of the cafe, leaving Yedam confused as hell.

Jeongin's crush quickly followed after him, "Hey I'm sorry if you didn't want to come here. I should've asked you where you wanted to go." He apologized again, making Jeongin feel horrible.

He quickly turned around and faced Yedam. "No! It's not your fault. I actually like Rock Cafe."

Yedam just became more confused than ever. "Then why'd you run out of there?"

"It's just that I saw Jisung, Seungmin and Felix at the cafe too and they're going to tease and embarrass me if they see us." Jeongin explained.

"I mean we're all friends, why would they tease you?"

_Shit._

Jeongin forgot about the fact that Yedam doesn't know about the massive crush he has on him. How could he forget? He doesn't know.

"Um—uh—they're just like that. Yeah, they just love to tease me all the time no matter who I'm with." The pink haired male lied.

"Oh I see. It's okay we can go somewhere else if you want to."

"No then I'll feel bad. You seemed really excited to eat here." Jeongin pouted.

"It won't be worth it if you're just going to be sitting there, nervous the whole time. It's okay, we can come here some other time. I don't care as long as we're still hanging out together." Yedam smiled to help convince Jeongin that he didn't mind at all.

_Stop playing with my heart like this Bang Yedam. Stop giving me false hope. Stop making me feel this way._

"Where are we gonna go then?"

"I say we should buy some cake mix at the store and just bake it at my house?" Yedam suggested.

Jeongin froze for the second time. His heartbeat quickened and he felt his hands get clammy.

_His house. I did not just hear him invite me to his house to bake a cake together. Am I hallucinating? Am I hearing things? Is God finally answering my prayers or am I dying?_

Jeongin quickly regained his cool and smiled at Yedam, "That sounds perfect." The pink haired male honestly didn't know how he remained calm on the outside because on the inside, he was shitting bricks and doing somersaults.

"Ok great!" Yedam beamed as he walked back to his car. Before he started the car he whipped his phone out and quickly started typing. Probably sending a text to someone but who? Jeongin quickly looked somewhere else, not wanting to invade Yedam's privacy. Soon the boy turned off his phone and started his car.

The drive to the grocery store was quick and sweet. It definitely wasn't enough time for Jeongin to wrap his head around what the hell was happening.

"What kind of cake do you want?" Yedam asked as they looked at the variety of cake mix the store had.

Jeongin shrugged. "I'm honestly fine with anything."

"Ok let's do funfetti." The dark haired male grabbed the funfetti cake mix and smiled, satisfied with his choice.

"Are we celebrating something?" Jeongin joked.

"We might later." Yedam mumbled under his breath.

"Hm?"

Yedam looked at Jeongin who was giving him a confused expression, "Hm? Nothing." He smiled.

"Well let's goooo!" Jeongin basically ran to the checkout making Yedam chuckle.

After they bought the cake mix, the two walked back to Yedam's car and began the route to his house, which is also when Jeongin started to freak out.

_Oh my god. It's happening. I'm going to his house. Stray Kids' house. This cannot be real, I feel like I'm going to throw up._

Jeongin would be the first outside person to see and go inside Stray Kids' house. Of course gang related people or family members have been but he was the first outsider to go inside and it was sort of a huge deal.

_I honestly thought Jisung or Felix or Seungmin would be the first to be invited. Not me! What is this!?_

They drove in the middle of a forest for a few minutes before Yedam pulled up to a really secured gated area. Jeongin didn't know where they were. They stopped at the front of the gate and waited.

"Don't freak out." Yedam said out of nowhere.

"Huh? What do you mea-" Jeongin stopped talking when he saw two buff ass dudes walking out from thin air. They were definitely armed. One walked up to Yedam's window and the other walked up to the window on Jeongin's side.

Yedam rolled down both windows. "Hey Wonho."

"Hey Yedam. Is that Jeongin?" Wonho pointed to the boy sitting in the passenger seat, making the latter feel vulnerable and uncomfortable as he shifted in his seat. The fact that this Wonho dude knew his name didn't help much either. Jeongin didn't dare to look at the guy who was standing at his side of the car.

"Yes it is." Yedam didn't seem fazed at the fact that the guard knew Jeongin's name.

"Ok we'll open the gate." With that, Wonho and the other guard disappeared and the gate suddenly opened.

"Okay..." Jeongin said trying to process what just happened.

"Sorry, you probably have so many questions. I promise I'll answer them all once we start baking." Yedam apologized for the third time today. Jeongin just nodded, holding in his questions.

They kept driving for another minute to another gate. Except at this one, you needed a fingerprint and eye scan to get inside. Finally they entered in and drove a few more seconds before Jeongin saw Yedam's house. To say that Jeongin was speechless was an understatement. Saying the house was ginormous was an understatement. It was absolutely massive. Jeongin has seen some big houses too, his own home wasn't that small and his other three friends had decent sized homes. Jisung's house was the biggest he's ever seen but Yedam's house put his house to shame. It looked like five mansions smashed into one. It could honestly be easily mistaken by a castle. How does one not get overwhelmed by living in this home?

Yedam pulled up to the front of his home. He stopped the car which gave Jeongin the hint that it was time to get out it. When they got out, Yedam threw his car keys to a man who was dressed in a suit. That man got in the car and drove off somewhere else.

_What is going on?_

Yedam looked at Jeongin's overwhelmed facial expression and felt bad for the pink haired boy. "I know it's a lot to take in and I'll answer all your questions I promise."

"Yeah that would be nice." Jeongin softly laughed.

Yedam led them to the front door and opened it open for Jeongin. The latter walked inside and took in all the visuals the interior gave. Everything was furnished so nicely and expensively. Jeongin didn't want to touch anything because he was scared he would break something that costed more than his entire life. There was two grand stairs on either side of the room that lead up to the second floor. On the sides, there were couches, making it seem like the living room but Jeongin knew that this definitely was not the living room. In the middle was a nice table with pretty flowers on them. In the back there were entrances to many other rooms. The white walls were decorated with an expensive painting. The interior was white, gold and black. Making it seem modern but not fully.

Out of nowhere, loud noises filled the house, coming from one of the many entrances in the back of the room. Then the entire gang appeared in front of them.

"Oh hey Jeongin." Chan smiled at him.

"Hey Chan hyung." Jeongin returned the smile.

"We were just leaving." Woojin said.

"Oh! You were?"

"Yep, I'm going to go pick up Jisung." Minho smiled.

"I'm going to hang with Felix." Changbin said excitedly.

"You probably already know where I'm going." Hyunjin said which caused Jeongin to snort.

"Me and Chan are going to run some errands-"

"-which means you and my brother have the whole house to yourself." Chan finished Woojin's sentence "So be good and don't do anything stupid." The leader said more towards his brother than to Jeongin.

"Don't worry. We won't do anything stupid. Have some faith in me hyung." Yedam rolled his eyes playfully.

Chan chuckled. "Ok we're leaving. Have fun guys." As he passed by Yedam, he smirked at him and the younger glared back at his brother. The others patted Yedam's shoulder as they passed by him.

When the two were finally alone, Yedam turned to Jeongin with excitement written all over his face. "How about we bake a cake and answer some questions?"

"I would love that." Jeongin smiled.

Yedam grabbed Jeongin's wrist and guided him through his home, towards the kitchen. It was like a corn maze. Jeongin was lost even though he was being dragged by someone who knew their way around this house. Finally they arrived to the kitchen and it was huge, of course, and really nice, very modern.

"Let's get started." Yedam walked around his kitchen to grab the materials.

"Can I ask my first question?" Jeongin asked and Yedam gave a nod.

"Where the heck are we?"

Yedam laughed, "We are in my humble abode."

"This is not a house. This is an airport that's in the middle of nowhere." Jeongin scoffed making Yedam laugh even harder.

"Yeah I know it's a bit extreme, but you get used to it after a while. And we are not in the middle of nowhere, we are in the forest."

"Yep, that's basically the middle of nowhere."

"Whatever." Yedam playfully rolled his eyes at the overdramatic person.

"Who were those people at the first gate and how did they know my name?" Jeongin asked while he watched Yedam search around his kitchen.

"They are guards and they're the only people who control the first gate. It's a known rule here that if you bring a guest then you _have _to tell my brother about it so he can tell the guards up front who to expect and to let through. If you don't then the guard won't allow the person through the gate. This is just so that Chan hyung can make sure that he keeps people, who are a threat to the gang, away. It's usually a hassle which is one of the reasons why we never invite guests over. So, the guards knew your name because I told Chan hyung that you were coming over and he told them. Usually they ask for ID's and do a pat down, but since you were with me, they didn't." Yedam explained as he set down all the materials onto the counter.

Jeongin took a minute to process everything his crush just told him. Yedam went through that 'hassle' just to have Jeongin over? But why?

"Okay but why do you have two gates?"

"Just for security. I think it's unnecessary to have two gates _and_ live deep in the forest, but Chan doesn't want to risk anything or anyone's life just because he didn't go the extra mile to be extra protected." He shrugged, pouring the cake mix into the bowl.

"How do you not get lost in this maze of a house?" Jeongin asked more of as a joke. He grabbed the eggs at the same moment Yedam was reaching for it which resulted in Jeongin's hand grabbing the top of Yedam's hand.

Jeongin had never moved faster in his life than when he retracted his hand back from Yedam's. "O-oh my god, I'm sorry." He felt his cheeks get hot. Jeongin just wanted to bang his head against the counter, hoping that it would help him forget what just happened.

Yedam softly smiled, "It's fine, I didn't mind. And If you've lived here for as long as I did then you learn your way around." He winked at Jeongin and the latter almost started hyperventilating. He felt his knees go weak and if it weren't for the counter that was holding him up, he would've collapsed on the floor. The pink haired male grabbed the measuring cup and quickly walked away to get some water so he could get away from the situation before Yedam saw his red cheeks.

Jeongin took a deep breath while he waited for the water to fill up the cup. _He did not just— No. There was just something in his eye. Yeah that makes more sense._

Jeongin cleared his throat as he walked back to his previous position. Yedam hit the egg against the side of the bowl and cracked it inside. He repeated this two more times with the remaining eggs. At the end his hands were covered with goo from the eggs.

"You have something right there." Yedam pointed to Jeongin's face.

"Where?" The pink haired male asked, totally embarrassed. He wanted to die because so far he's just been embarrassing himself in front of his crush.

"Right there." Yedam flicked his hands at Jeongin which caused the goo on his hands to land on Jeongin's face. The pink haired male flinched and opened his mouth in surprise when the goo made contact with his face. He realized that Yedam just played him. Jeongin didn't have anything in his face, his crush just wanted to fling some egg residue on his face. He wiped his face with his hands and opened his eyes and saw Yedam smiling.

"Oops. Sorry false alarm." Yedam shrugged innocently.

Jeongin dipped his fingers into the cup of water he had in front of him and flicked it at Yedam's face making the latter flinch. "Oops. Sorry I had a muscle spasm." Jeongin smiled.

Yedam shook his head and reached into the bowl to grab some of the cake mix. Jeongin saw what he was doing and started running away but he soon came to realize that he didn't know where to go in this giant house without getting lost, so he ran around in the kitchen. Yedam quickly caught up to Jeongin and threw the cake mix at him, covering his his pink hair. He ran away after doing the deed.

Jeongin reached into the bowl and grabbed a handful of cake mix, quickly throwing it at Yedam who was running towards the refrigerator. Thankfully he threw it in time to hit Yedam in the back and neck. The dark haired male reached into the fridge and pulled out a water bottle, opening it and splashing it all over Jeongin, soaking him. The latter squealed and ran away as Yedam chased him.

Jeongin ran back to the fridge and grabbed a water bottle as well, turning around, facing his crush as he got closer and closer. When Yedam was close enough, Jeongin reached out and poured the water all on his head, causing Yedam to open his mouth in surprise. His hair flattened onto his forehead and some of it was covering his eyes. Yedam wiped his eyes from the water that dropped down his face. He shook his head and the water on him darted off of him.

"Oh you are going to get it Yang." He threatened.

Jeongin's eyes widened as he bolted away from Yedam. This time he didn't stay in the kitchen, he ran wherever he could. It didn't last long before Yedam caught up to the pink haired male. He grabbed Jeongin's waist, turning him around to face him. The boy looked at his crush in surprise. Yedam kept his hands on Jeongin's waist which made the latter feel like exploding. The electric pulses resonating from Yedam's finger tips were traveling all through Jeongin's body. The dark haired male's face was so close Jeongin's that he didn't know what to do, he couldn't think straight. It was like he was frozen on the spot, he couldn't move a muscle, not that he wanted to anyway.

Jeongin was breathing heavily, not knowing if it was from running around or if it was because his crush was so close to him. He could see Yedam's eyes flicker from his eyes to his lips making Jeongin's heart pound through his chest. The pink haired male waited for Yedam's next move but was disappointed to see that he moved away from him. Jeongin already missed his touch.

"I-I'm sorry Jeongin, I shouldn't have done that, getting all close. It was a mistake." Yedam rubbed the back of his neck, averting his eyes to the floor.

Jeongin's heart stopped. Right when he thought his crush might've shared the same feelings as him, Yedam took his hope and stomped on it, taking his heart along with it. "...Then why did you?" He asked quietly, curious as to why the boy got so close to him if he was just going to regret it afterwards.

Yedam stayed silent. Jeongin saw from the look in his eyes that he was debating on something. He was definitely hiding something and it didn't seem good, making Jeongin realize why his crush was acting the way he was the past three days.

"You know what, never mind. Don't answer that question." Jeongin sighed and walked away. He knew the answer and he didn't want Yedam to say it out loud or to lie to him. Jeongin hoped he remembered the way back to the kitchen or even the front door, but sadly all the hallways looked the same and he honestly didn't know where he going.

"I like you Jeongin." Yedam quickly said making Jeongin stop. "I did it because I like you a lot, as in more than a friend." His voice got weak at the end.

Jeongin couldn't move. He wanted to turn around and sprint to Yedam. He wanted to tackle the other into a hug and tell him that he liked him too, but he couldn't. He waited his whole middle and high school life, waiting and dreaming of this moment so why can't he take advantage of it? Because he knew that Yedam was lying.

Jeongin heard Yedam's footsteps approaching him slowly. He felt arms wrap around his waist, turning him around. The pink haired male knew he should've pushed Yedam away, but he couldn't help but melt from his touch and Jeongin cursed himself for being so weak. Instead, the boy looked down, not making eye contact. _Stop, don't do this to me Yedam._

"Please look at me." Yedam asked so softly. Jeongin wanted to ignore him but he couldn't, so he slowly moved his eyes up to meet his crush's.

Yedam gently placed a hand on Jeongin's cheek, leaving the other hand around his waist. "Say something." He begged.

Jeongin didn't say anything. He couldn't form any words for some reason. All he had to say was that he felt the same way and Yedam would finally be his, so why was he being a coward and not saying those three words? Because Jeongin knew it was all a lie and he didn't want to get hurt more than he already was.

"I've been waiting for you to say that to me for four years." Jeongin began and he could see Yedam's eyes light up. The pink haired male broke the eye contact and pushed Yedam away slightly, removing himself from his crush's touch as he said, "And I want to believe you, but I just can't and I won't. I know what you're trying to do and I'm not going to fall for it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh you guys are definitely going to hate me for this.
> 
> you're probs confused as to why jeongin basically just rejected yedam but just wait, your explanation will be in the next chapter :)
> 
> opinions on this chapter?.. 😁
> 
> merry christmas eve or happy holidays everyone!!
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- shit doesn't add up  
\- turn around  
\- don't go
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	29. t w e n t y e i g h t .

_"I've been waiting for you to say that to me for four years. And I want to believe you, but I just can't and I won't. I know what you're trying to do and I'm not going to fall for it."_

Jeongin wasn't looking at Yedam but he could feel him freeze after he said those words. _Am I crazy? This is all I've wanted but I just can't accept it. Something doesn't seem right. Nothing adds up. He's definitely hiding something from me and I know it's not anything good. _Jeongin thought to himself.

"W-what? Why? What am I doing wrong?" Yedam whispered, he sounded hurt, like he was about to cry, but Jeongin was too paranoid to realize his authenticity.

"This is all a lie, you're just playing with my feelings. You don't actually like me, it doesn't make sense. How can you like me? You ditched me the last three days and hung out with those other guys. I wouldn't have thought much of it if you had just told me that you were gonna hang with them, but you acted like you didn't even know me and you completely ignored me. You cut me off unless you needed help in something. Even during our tutor you wouldn't look at me. You let me think that _I_ did something wrong and that _I_ screwed up. It's not fair for you to ditch me and then tell me that you like me out of nowhere because I know you don't mean it. I know you ignored me because you got tired of me or something. You probably made a bet with your other friends that you could make me fall for you so I can make a complete fool of myself. Since that's the only logical explanation as to why you've been acting like such a dick recently."

Jeongin took a deep breath and closed his eyes, he felt the tears coming. "And It hurts because I already did fall for you." His voice sounded weak.

He opened his eyes and made eye contact with Yedam before continuing. "I _actually_ like you and I've had the biggest crush on you for the past four years. So you can just stop playing with my feelings and giving me false hope. You don't have to keep on acting anymore, you already won the bet, you already made me look like an idiot." Jeongin's voice gave out at the end as he broke the eye contact and shed his first tears.

Yedam stood there shocked. He didn't know what he was expecting to hear but this was definitely not it. "I-I'm not acting. There was no dare and I could never get tired of you." Yedam said quietly, walking closer to Jeongin but the boy backed away.

"Then why did you ignore me?" More tears fell down Jeongin's face as his voice wavered.

Yedam reached out to wipe his tears, but Jeongin moved away again before Yedam got close. The boy sighed, "The truth in why I hung out with those other guys was because they were helping me. They were helping me get my feelings for you figured out."

Jeongin inhaled sharply as Yedam took a deep breath before continuing, "Jeongin I've liked you since the the first day of high school in freshman year, but I thought it was a small crush like all my other ones so I didn't think much of it. I slowly realized that my crush towards you lasted so much longer than my other ones so I decided to do something about it this year. I asked our teacher if I can get a tutor in math because I knew he would ask you to tutor me since you were the best at it and I obviously suck, so it all played out nicely. The more I hung out with you, the more my feelings for you got stronger and I've never felt like this before so I went to my other friends for some advice. That's why I hung with them on Wednesday. They helped me realize that I should take a chance and ask you on a date. Then yesterday and today, I hung out with them again because I needed their help on creating a plan on how to ask you out. They helped me plan out the perfect way to ask you. And I wouldn't look at you during our tutoring session because I knew if I looked at you for too long then I would get nervous and blush really badly."

Yedam rubbed his nape from sudden shyness, "But there was no dare, and I definitely could never get tired of you. I wasn't trying to ignore you either, I was just so nervous about this whole plan that I isolated myself from the world and rehearsed it in my mind over and over again throughout the day, I didn't really talk to anyone during school either because of it. I wasn't only ignoring you, I was ignoring everyone else too. And I'm so sorry for hurting you like that, I was so distracted on how to perfect everything for you, I didn't even realize how much I was hurting you instead and I feel absolutely horrible. Please believe me, I genuinely really do like you Jeongin."

Jeongin looked back at Yedam again and he could see the desperation and the sincerity in his eyes. The pink haired boy stayed quiet. He felt like a complete idiot for jumping to conclusions and for accusing the other for something he wasn't even doing.

Yedam on the other hand was panicking. Each second that went by of Jeongin staying quiet, his heart sank deeper and deeper into itself. If by the end of this day, Jeongin didn't believe his legitimacy then he was going to give up on all hope and break down and cry.

"If you still don't believe me, you can even ask my brother or anyone in the gang because they also know about the whole plan and encouraged me. They even left the house today so we could have it to ourself so I could ask you out." Yedam tried to convince further. He was scared that he would lose Jeongin when he was so close to calling him his.

After a few seconds Jeongin finally interrupted the silence. "I'm sorry, for not letting you explain yourself and for lashing out at you." He spoke softly, looking down.

"No don't apologize. You had every right to be angry with me and to be doubtful." Yedam stepped closer to him.

"But, I believe you." Jeongin looked at his crush.

Yedam froze. He honestly thought he was going to have to show some proof for Jeongin to believe him. His shock was overridden by pure joy and his face broke out into the biggest smile. He felt like he was going to cry from happiness and relief. Yedam quickly hugged the pink haired boy. "Oh thank the lord." He whispered making Jeongin giggle.

"Come with me." Yedam said when he released from the hug. Jeongin gave him a confused look but the other started walking somewhere. He just followed after Yedam, trusting him. Soon they were in front of the doors to the giant backyard. Yedam opened the back door and walked outside. It was the time of year when the sun set early so it wasn't very bright outside, but it wasn't pitch back either yet.

"Where are we going?" Jeongin asked, following after him

"You'll see." Was all Yedam said as he looked behind him and winked at Jeongin.

Their backyard was beautiful and huge. It was split up with different sections, one section had a pool, another section had a basketball court, soccer field, tennis court and any type of court or field you can think of. Another section had a campfire and the list just went on and on.

"I'll be right back. Follow the petals." Yedam said before he disappeared.

_Petals? What does he mean by petals?_

Jeongin looked down and noticed the rose petals on the ground. _How did __I__ not see __them__ before?_ Jeongin looked around and saw no Yedam in sight. He sighed and followed the rose petals.

_What is going on?_

He walked a little longer until he ended up on a grass field in front of a wood platform with a pergola that was decorated with lit up fairy lights. There were white couches under the pergola and a gas fire pit table. It looked absolutely beautiful with the light the setting sun was providing. As Jeongin was admiring the beautiful layout, he saw a note on the table. It read: "turn around :)"

Jeongin spun around and in front of him, was Yedam, holding a bouquet of roses. A very light gasp escaped from Jeongin's mouth. He was stunned and couldn't move or say anything. Yedam walked up closer to Jeongin, reaching out and grabbing one of his hands.

"Jeongin, the last year, I've had a major crush on you and finally being able to hang out with you for the past month has made me discover new things that I admire about you. I love being around you and I feel genuine happiness when I'm with you that i've never really felt before." Yedam took a deep breath before asking, "Will you please be my boyfriend?" He smiled.

Jeongin was on the verge of tears. He nodded, "Yes, of course I will." He said as he tightly hugged his new boyfriend. Yedam wrapped his arms around the boy and hugged him just as tight. He felt a whole weight lifted off his shoulder that was replaced with relief and happiness.

Jeongin was on the moon. He had been waiting for this exact moment for the last four years and he didn't even know if it was ever going to happen. He was now dating his dream guy and his life felt complete.

"Was this how you planned to ask me out?" Jeongin said as he pulled away.

Yedam handed him the bouquet of roses and shook his head. "Well, not exactly." He held Jeongin's hand and guided them back to the house.

The pink haired male raised his eyebrows, "What was the original plan?"

"After our tutor session, I was going to ask you out to Rock Cafe, which by the way, when you texted me that we should take a day off, I started shitting my pants. _And_ I heard you when you said 'let's just get this over with' which made me think that you didn't want to be tutoring me and that really helped me with my confidence to ask you out to coffee afterwards, so thank you for that." Yedam chuckled.

"Okay first of all, I only sent that because I thought you wouldn't have wanted the tutor session since I thought you hated me. And second of all, I said that because you ignored me for three days and I thought you didn't like me back so being with you just was a reminder of how you wouldn't need me for anything else but math." Jeongin said as a matter of factly. They arrived at an elevator door.

_Of course they have an elevator in here._

Yedam nervously rubbed his nape as they walked inside the elevator. "Yeah I'm sorry about that and the last part's not true though." He pressed the 3rd floor.

"I know that now." Jeongin smiled.

_Where is he taking me?_

"I was supposed to take you to Rock Cafe so we can talk and get to know each other a little more. Then I was gonna take you downtown and walk around to see the city lights. Afterwards, I would've taken you to my house and asked you out like I just did now." As Yedam was explaining, the elevator doors opened. Jeongin saw an open room with few chairs and a table on the side. There were a few plants and a long hallway ahead. Yedam led them to a double door at the very end.

"I'm sorry for ruining your whole plan." Jeongin looked down, feeling horrible. Yedam has thought really hard, coming up with this plan and Jeongin had to ruin it right at the beginning.

Yedam stopped and turned around, facing his boyfriend. He placed his hand under Jeongin's chin and lifted his head so he could look him in the eye. "Don't blame yourself. Honestly I liked baking with you more than my original plan."

"We didn't even get to the part of baking the cake." Jeongin laughed.

"Yeah true, but you probably want to take a shower more than you want to bake the cake." Yedam snorted as he opened the door to the room they were standing in front of.

It was definitely his bedroom and it was huge. It was very clean and simple. There was a king sized bed in the middle with a wood headstand and a rug under. A wood nightstand on either side of the bed with a lamp. On the wall in front of the bed, there was a gas fireplace and TV above it, mounted on the wall. On the wall to the right side of the wall with the TV, there was another double door. On the other side of the room, there was a half wall that split his bedroom with another room that had a white couch and his desk. His walls were white and his bedsheets were white. There were some plants decorated around the room and the floor was a dark wood.

"Is that why you wanted the funfetti cake? to celebrate us getting together?" Jeongin asked.

"Yeah." Yedam said shyly making Jeongin chuckle at his boyfriend's cuteness.

"I'll give you some of my clothes and you can take a shower in my bathroom." Yedam pointed to the other double doors. "I'll take a shower in the other bathroom."

"It's your bathroom so you should take a shower in there. It's fine, I'll take a shower in the other bathroom." Jeongin argued as he followed Yedam into the bathroom. Yedam opened the door to his giant closet which was inside the bathroom. He grabbed sweats and hoodie for Jeongin.

"But you're the guest-"

"Exactly I'm the guest so I'll use the guest bathroom."

Yedam walked back to Jeongin with a frown. "But-"

Jeongin quickly snatched the clothes and ran out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. "Oh would you look at that. You're already in your bathroom so might as well shower in there."

Yedam opened the door. "Don't you dare step your foot out of the bathroom until you're clean." Jeongin warned.

The dark haired male stuck just head out the door and pouted. "But you don't even know where the other bathroom is."

"Don't worry, I'll find it." Jeongin began walking to the bedroom door.

"It's the third door on your right." Yedam called out.

"Thank you!" Jeongin yelled back as he walked to the third door on the right. He opened the door and the bathroom was big and very nice like the rest of the house. He thought a lot while he was showering, processing everything that just happened because it felt like a dream more than reality.

After he was done washing off the cake mix off of his body and hair, he dried himself and put on Yedam's clothes. It was a little big on him but that's what made them even more comfortable. When he wore the clothes, the smell of Yedam's cologne filled Jeongin's nose, making the boy smile. He walked out of the bathroom and checked the time on his phone. _7:15 p.m. _He opened the door to Yedam's room and his boyfriend was sitting on his white couch.

The dark haired male looked up from the sound of his door opening and saw his cute boyfriend wearing his clothes that looked a little baggy. "Come here." Yedam waved him over.

Jeongin walked over to his boyfriend and sat on the couch next to him. He noticed that Yedam was watching something on the TV in front of him.

_This boy has two TV's in his room. The hell?_

"What movie do you wanna watch?" Yedam asked.

Jeongin thought for a moment. "The Incredibles!"

Yedam chuckled at his boyfriend's cuteness as he turned on the requested movie. They watched the whole movie, cuddling. After it was over, they decided it was late and that Jeongin needed to go home before his parents beat his ass. Yedam drove Jeongin home unwillingly. He didn't want the boy to go home, he wanted Jeongin to stay with him but he also didn't want him to get in trouble. The dark haired male hoped the drive to be long but it was ten minutes and those ten minutes felt like a minute long. Jeongin also felt sad when Yedam drove into his neighborhood.

"Please don't go." Yedam pouted when he parked in Jeongin's driveway.

"Stop it, you're making me sad too. We're going to see each other on Monday."

"That's in two days. I don't think I'll last." He exasperated.

"You were able to do it before, why can't you do it now." Jeongin playfully rolled his eyes at his over dramatic boyfriend.

"That was before you were my boyfriend."

Jeongin blushed at that word. _Boyfriend._ He still wasn't used to it. "You'll be fine, trust me. I'm always a call away."

"Expect my call every hour then." Yedam winked at him.

"I'll answer every single one of them. Oh and I'll give your clothes back to you on Monday." Jeongin almost forgot about them.

Yedam shook his head. "Don't, just keep them. You look adorable in them."

Jeongin blushed even more, cursing Yedam for being able to make him blush this easily. "Goodnight Yedam." Jeongin said and quickly tried to get out of the car before his boyfriend saw his blushing face. Before he could even open the car door, Yedam grabbed Jeongin's wrist to stop him. He leaned over and kissed the pink haired male's cheek, making him melt and turn more red.

Yedam lightly laughed at how adorable his boyfriend was. "Goodnight Jeongin." He let go of Jeongin's wrist so the boy can get out of the car but instead of leaving, Jeongin built up some courage and quickly kissed Yedam's cheek. The dark haired male sat there in shock and before he could come back to his senses, Jeongin was already out of the car and walking to his front door. Yedam drove back home with a giant smile on his face.

Jeongin ran upstairs, into his room and flopped on his bed. "I CAN'T BELIEVE I JUST DID THAT!" He yelled into his pillow. After a few minutes he pulled himself together and FaceTimed his friends on his laptop. All their faces popped up with the same expression. Confusion.

"Why'd you call?"

"Is that a new hoodie?"

"How was tutoring?"

They all said at the same time.

"I have some news to tell you." Everyone waited for Jeongin to spill the tea. "You know how I've been crushing on Yedam?"

"Of course." Jisung replied.

"It's been four years, how can we forget?" Seungmin answered.

"You literally talk about him everyday." Felix pointed out.

"I do not." Jeongin denied.

"Yes you do." All three of his friends argued back.

"Okay well that's besides the point."

"Then get to the point." Seungmin was done with Jeongin's stalling and just wanted to know where he's going with this.

"Well, turns out he likes and me and he asked me out and now I have a boyfriend." Jeongin announced quickly.

"OH MY GOD REALLY?!"

"I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!"

"NO WAY WHAT THE HELL!"

Jeongin laughed at their reactions and nodded his head. "Yes really. I know I can't believe it either."

"Finally, Jesus Christ it was about time." Seungmin spoke.

"Well tell us everything that happened!" Jisung eagerly said, causing Jeongin to laugh at his friend's excitement.

Jeongin explained to them everything that happened after he left them to tutor Yedam at the library and his friends all cooed at the cuteness.

"Aww, I can't believe he asked you out. That is so adorable." Felix said.

"So that's where you got that hoodie from." Seungmin pieced together, making Jeongin blush and nod his head.

"You really ruined his plan just because we were at Rock Cafe too." Jisung snorted.

"Hey! You guys would've teased me if you saw me and Yedam sitting at a table and I was not going to risk my face getting red. Besides I'm glad that you guys were there because if Yedam succeeded with his original plan then it would've been really awkward for him if I lashed out at him when he asked me to be his boyfriend." Jeongin chuckled.

"Oh I would feel the secondhand embarrassment." Felix cringed at the thought.

"Who would've known he would take you to their house." Jisung said surprised.

"Yeah and who would've known that Chan would have all that security." Seungmin raised his eyebrows. "I mean it makes sense though. Being the leader of a well known gang."

"Yeah it was really protected. Very overwhelming too, like the size of their house and everything that was inside." Jeongin rubbed his temples.

"If their house is really as big as you make it seem then I did not know Stray Kids made _that_ much money."

"Yeah I didn't either. It was a slap to the face when I saw their big ass house. And It might even be bigger than how I'm making it seem."

"Well shit. Thanks for the warning." Felix laughed lightly.

"So that was why Yedam left for the last three days." Seungmin realized and Jeongin nodded. "I was really about to drop kick him for making you sad but I guess he gets a pass because it was for a good reason."

"I'm about to drop kick Minho for lying to me." Jisung snorted and the other two friends agreed to do the same with their boyfriends.

Jeongin didn't understand what lie his friends' boyfriends said to them. "Wait why?"

"We asked them why Yedam randomly disappeared from the group and all three of them said 'I don't know', but they knew all along." Felix explained and Jeongin chuckled.

"I just can't believe he liked you since the beginning of high school and you thought he didn't even know who you were." Jisung scoffed. He had to hear Jeongin complain about how his crush didn't know who he was and how he would never like him back almost everyday when Yedam did like him back all along.

"I'm glad he's not a dumbass and actually likes you, or I would've actually thrown some fists to knock some sense into him." Seungmin commented, causing Jeongin to snort and the rest of his friends to agree.

"Yeah me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> opinions? i hope you enjoyed the way that jeongdam ended up together because it took a while for me to think of it.
> 
> also idk if yedam is actually taller than jeongin but in this story he is lol
> 
> i'm gonna try to update every tuesday and friday now :))
> 
> next chapter is gonna be fun... hehe
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- lips are chapped ?  
\- a fight?  
\- even more drama :)
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	30. t w e n t y n i n e .

"Hey Hwajoon. How are you doing?"

The mentioned boy looked away from his phone and looked up at the person in front of him. "Oh hey! I'm okay, I guess. What about you?"

"I'm great! So how's life? Did you ask out your crush yet? How's that going?"

Hwajoon's face noticeably dropped. His eyes darkened at the mention and he looked hurt. "Not good at all. Minho just won't break up with Jisung. And I've done everything I could to make him realize that he is better with me. It's useless."

"Hey, why are you being so negative. It couldn't have been that bad."

Hwajoon glared, "He slapped me."

"Maybe you just need to give them some time to break up. Then you can swoop in and cheer Minho up and make your move."

"That's actually not a bad idea, but it's not that easy. I can't go anywhere near Jisung or else Minho's gonna beat my ass worse than last time."

His friend sighed, and shook his head. "You're so dumb."

Hwajoon cocked his head and furrowed his eyebrows. "Sorry, what?"

"Minho only said that to scare you off. He's not actually going to beat you up. The slap was just to scare you off." The friend was saying nonsense but he didn't care. If it was anyone else then they wouldn't believe him and would know better but Hwajoon was such a desperate bitch that he would believe anything.

Hope sparked in Hwajoon's eyes. "Wait really?" He asked and his friend nodded to him.

"But I want him now. I don't want to wait for them to break up. I want to make this happen sooner, but I don't know how." Hwajoon frowned.

"Hwajoon, you know how you said you tried everything to get him to break up with Jisung?"

"Yeah I just said that."

"Well what if I told you that you haven't tried _everything._"

Hwajoon scoffed. "I'd say you're crazy, what else could you possibly think of that will work? I'm telling you, I tried it all."

"Well, I definitely have a way that will most likely work."

Hwajoon wasn't impressed. He truly believed that there was no other way and that his friend's idea was probably going to be shit. He was full of doubt and the hope he held, disappeared. "Okay, tell me."

His friend leaned over and whispered the idea in his ear. Once Hwajoon heard it, his eyes lit up and his heart was filled with hope again. It was like he discovered the biggest pot of gold.

"And if you do that then Minho will notice how ugly and disgusting Jisung looks and he'll break up with him. Then he'll realize how great you look and he'll come crawling to you, asking you to date him." His friend said.

"You are a genius! This will definitely work. I'm gonna do it today. Minho is gonna become my boyfriend sooner than I expected." Hwajoon gleamed as fire appeared in his eyes.

"Yeah that's definitely going to happen."

"Thank you so much Soobin, for helping me out so much."

Soobin gave a smile, not because Hwajoon was thanking him but because Hwajoon was actually going to go through with the plan. "Yeah no problem! I'm always here to help you."

_I'm so glad this dumbass isn't from around here. He's stupid enough to mess with Minho. He's just making my job easier._

-

When Jisung woke up this morning, he felt a bit more tired than usual, which made sense since it was a Monday. But for some reason he was more zoned out in the morning.

Jisung was sitting up, staring at the white wall across from him, zoning in and out, when a knock on his door brought him back to the real world. The latter lazily turned his head towards his bedroom door and there stood his older brother, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Are you done daydreaming? Because it's 7:47." Brian spoke.

Jisung snapped his head to the clock on his nightstand, not believing his brother's words. Sure enough the clock read 7:47 A.M. The boy's eyes went wide as he threw his covers off of his body and hopped out of his bed, running to his bathroom.

"The warning bell rings in 8 minutes! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!" He yelled at his brother.

"Hey, when I came into your room, you were awake so I assumed that you were gonna get ready and go to school on time. I didn't think you were gonna be blank staring at the wall for ten minutes."

Jisung groaned out loud. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, combed his hair, and got dressed all in six minutes. He grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him out to his car, begging him to drive him to school. If they drove to school then Jisung would make it before the second bell rang. His brother complied and sped down to his school which was thankfully not that far.

Jisung looked down at his phone. _7:56 A.M. _Fortunately, hestill had four minutes to shove everything in his locker and get to class. He noticed all the text messages he got from his three friends and his boyfriend, all asking where he was and if he was going to come to school or not. Jisung didn't bother to reply back since he was going to see them in about three minutes. The boy thanked his brother and ran into his school. There weren't many students in the halls since they all were in their classrooms already which gave Jisung enough space to run to his locker without bumping into another person or having someone in his way.

By the time he arrived at his classroom he had a minute to spare. He quickly walked in and made eye contact with his boyfriend first. Minho had a look of worry in his eyes but the moment he saw Jisung walking into the classroom, it vanished and was replaced by a look of relief. The next person he made eye contact with was Felix and Seungmin, they had a look of happiness. Jisung quickly took his seat and let out a breath of relief. He heard Felix snort next to him.

"Dumbass." Felix muttered under his breath but purposefully made it loud enough for Jisung to hear, causing the out of breath boy to shush him.

Jisung felt Minho's gaze on him. He knew that the older boy was curious as to why he was late. Jisung slowly turned his head to his right and was met by brown eyes, staring right back at him.

"Hey babe. How was your morning?" Minho asked almost mockingly, cocking his head to the side.

Jisung rolled his eyes and groaned. "I might've spent ten minutes just staring at the wall, making me almost late."

Minho chuckled, opening his mouth to tease him probably but Jisung beat him to it by saying, "Shut up I know, I'm dumb but I'm just really tired."

The gang member raised an eyebrow, "I was actually going to say that's cute but on second thought, you're right, you're dumb."

Jisung lazily slapped his boyfriend's shoulder. "You're lucky I have no energy right now or else that slap would've left a bruise."

Minho didn't reply back. Instead, he smiled to himself and took the time to observe how adorable his sleepy boyfriend was being. Seeing him doing anything with no effort made his heart fill up at the cuteness.

-

The bell finally rang for lunch and Jisung couldn't be happier. Slowly through the first three periods, his drowsiness went away and was replaced with hunger.

"Thanks for answering our texts this morning." Seungmin said sarcastically to Jisung right when the bell rang.

"I'm sorry! I was staring at a wall for ten minutes and it made me late so I didn't have time to answer your texts."

The reason why he was late, made the other five burst out laughing. "You stared at a wall for ten minutes?" Hyunjin repeated.

"Don't ask because I don't even know either." Jisung sighed.

Minho slung an arm around Jisung's shoulder and pulled him into his side. "Well I'm just glad that you actually came to school or else I would've been bored out of my mind." He kissed the top of his boyfriend's head, making the other four gag.

"You guys are so dramatic." Minho said to them while Jisung laughed at their reaction.

"I'm starving, can we-"

"Han Jisung?" Someone said from behind him, interrupting Jisung. Minho's grip on him tighten as he heard someone call his boyfriend's name. They turned around and found themselves looking at their teacher who was sitting at his teacher desk in the front of the classroom. Minho loosened his grip just a little.

"Yes Mr. Park?" Jisung replied.

"I have a stack of papers that I need you to take to another classroom. Some teacher accidentally printed her worksheets at my printer instead of hers so can you please give them to her?"

Jisung internally groaned. All he wanted to do was to eat some food but of course the universe had different plans for him. "Yeah I can do that."

Jisung turned back to his friends, "Go to lunch, I'll meet you guys at the table when I'm done." They all nodded and started to walk out the door except Minho.

"I'll go with you." He said.

Jisung smiled, "Minho I'm just dropping off papers. Go to lunch, I'll be there in like five to ten minutes tops." He started pushing his boyfriend towards the door.

"Fine but hurry." Minho said making Jisung roll his eyes playfully.

"Yeah yeah."

Jisung walked to the teachers desk and grabbed the stack of papers. "Which room am I taking these to?"

"0325." Mr. Kim answered.

Jisung nodded his head and headed out the door. Room 0325 was upstairs so Jisung quickly climbed up the stairs and walked to the left, praying that the classroom would be this way and not the other way. Of course it didn't play in his favor and he had to walk to the other side of the hall to the correct classroom. He quickly walked inside and dropped the papers off on the teachers desk and walked back out of the classroom. Finally, Jisung was able to go eat so he started fast walking down the hallway. Sadly he didn't make it far as he was stopped in the hallway by someone. Not _just _anyone, he was stopped by Hwajoon.

"Stop." He popped up out of nowhere.

Jisung abruptly stopped his feet from moving, not because Hwajoon told him to, but because if he didn't then he would've ran right into Hwajoon. He was definitely not ten feet away from Jisung and would've gotten his ass kicked if any of the gang members were around.

"Uh... Can I help you?" Jisung asked a bit irritated.

"I've just been wondering everyday, why Minho would pick you over me. I mean come on, I'm obviously better looking and a better fit for him-"

"I'm flattered that you think about me everyday." Jisung said blankly. He just wanted to eat some food.

"-but for some reason, he thinks you're better looking and a better fit for him."

_Where is he going with this?_

"That's why I'm here, to prove to him how much of an eyesore you are." Hwajoon said.

Jisung furrowed his eyebrows in confusion but before he could even think about the outcomes of this situation, Hwajoon lunged forward and swung his fist, at full force into the left side of Jisung's face.

Jisung's face snapped to the right and pain erupted throughout his face. Hwajoon hit him with so much power, it knocked Jisung's clumsy ass and he fell to the floor. Blood rushed to his face as it throbbed immensely. It hurt worse than the gang that beat him up in the alleyway because Hwajoon wore rings, and it made the impact even worse and more excruciating. Blood trickled from his split open bottom lip and the taste of iron became prominent in his mouth.

"Ow! What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Jisung said in pain.

Hwajoon leaned over Jisung and reached down to grab his collar. Jisung was in too much pain to push him away with enough energy. The boy examined the big bruise forming near the bottom of Jisung's cheek and the cut on his lip and a few other places on his cheek from the rings he wore. He pushed him back to the ground and let go of his collar with the look of satisfaction.

"There, now when Minho looks at you with that bruise and all those cuts on your face, he'll realize how ugly you truly are and he'll come running to me." Hwajoon spat before he walked away.

Jisung waited until Hwajoon was out of sight before he got up and raced to the nearest bathroom, praying that no one was in there. Thankfully Jisung was all alone, probably because all the students were downstairs in the cafeteria. He walked up to the mirror and examined the damage done to his face. His lower half of his face was red on the left side. It was definitely forming a bruise and he had two cuts on his cheek and his lip was busted open with blood dripping. The cuts in his cheek weren't deep enough to have blood pouring out of them, the blood would probably stop after wiping it away a few times but it is definitely noticeable that he got punched.

Jisung sighed when he saw his face. He grabbed a few sheets of paper towels and held it under running sink. He squeezed the access water out of the paper towel and gently wiped the blood away from his face. When he touched the cuts on his cheek, he winced from the bruise that was forming. The blood stopped flowing out of the cuts after a few wipes. He looked at himself in the mirror again. He didn't look as bad as before but the cuts and the red forming bruise on his cheek was still evident.

The buzz from his phone scared him. He grabbed his phone out of his back pocket and saw he got a text message from Minho.

**minho<3**  
where are you?

**jisung**  
i'm coming right now

**minho<3**  
hurry up i miss you

Jisung panicked. How the hell is he going to show up to the lunchroom with his face looking like this. How the hell is he going to face the gang with his face looking like this. He wasn't worried about Minho thinking he was ugly because of them, he was worried about Minho's reaction to them. As crazy as it sounded, Jisung really didn't want Minho to punch Hwajoon. He didn't want any drama or any fight to happen, especially when it was because of him.

_What if I cover it with a face mask? No that'll be too suspicious. What if I cover it with my hands? No that's just stupid. What if I ask Jihyo noona to bring that concealer? No it'll take too long and Minho will get suspicious and she's gonna ask me questions and probably freak out._

At this point Jisung was shitting his pants. He was running out of options.

_Oh my god wait, if I just bring the collar of my crew neck up and over the bruise and cuts? Then it'll hide them from the gang and I can just that I'm doing this because it's cold._

Jisung followed through with that plan because he had to get to the cafeteria quick before Minho suspected something was wrong. He brought the collar over his nose and quickly walked to the cafeteria. The walk from the cafeteria doors to the table where his friends all sat at, felt like thirty years. His heart was pounding. All he had to do was convince everyone that nothing was wrong and that he was just cold.

When Jisung arrived at the table, everyone's eyes were on him. Jisung freaked out and quickly sat down across from Minho and next to Seungmin.

"Finally, took you long enough." Seungmin snorted.

"Sorry I don't like to rush." Jisung said as casual as he could.

"Oh you actually showed up to school today?" Jeongin asked. "Where were you this morning?"

Jisung groaned and the boys who already heard the story, all laughed, except for Minho. He just looked at Jisung as if he was examining him. Jeongin, Yedam, Chan, and Woojin looked confused.

"He was late because he was staring at his wall for ten minutes." Felix explained and the other four started laughing.

"_Almost_ late." Jisung corrected.

"You busted through the doors one minute before class started. You barely even made it." Seungmin sassed and Jisung rolled his eyes.

Jisung could tell everyone was a bit confused as to why he was covering half of his face with his crew neck, but no one asked him about. No one except for one person.

"Why are you hiding your face." Minho asked, skeptical.

"I'm not hiding my face, I'm just cold. As I dropped the papers off at the classroom, I realized how cold I was." Jisung tried to be as convincing as he could.

Minho immediately started taking off his jacket to give to Jisung but the injured boy was quick to stop him.

"Stop it. Keep your jacket on."

His boyfriend gave a puzzled look at him. "You said you were cold-"

"Yes I know but if you give me your jacket I'll feel bad so please wear it." Jisung begged.

Minho slowly put his jacket back on. He felt like there was something off about this situation. "Aren't you gonna eat?" He asked Jisung.

The shorter boy shook his head, "Nope. I'm not hungry."

"Bullshit. Right before the teacher asked you for the favor, you were talking about how hungry you were." Minho narrowed his eyes.

"I just lost my appetite." Jisung shrugged but on the inside he was freaking out.

_Why can't you just take the reason and go, why are you questioning me so much and being so complicated._

At this point, Minho definitely knew something was wrong. Jisung would never pass up the chance to eat something. He was definitely hiding his face.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're hiding your face?"

_Fuck you Minho. Why are you so observant all of a sudden. _Jisung had to think quick. "My lips are chapped and I'm embarrassed."

Minho raised his eyebrow. "They weren't chapped this morning."

Jisung frantically looked around, avoiding eye contact. He tried to think of another reason but he couldn't, he ran out of excuses and he was preparing himself to run away if he had to, just to avoid showing his boyfriend.

"Babe why are you hiding your face?" Minho asked again and his boyfriend didn't reply. He kept his finger on the fabric of his crew neck, making sure it wouldn't fall down.

"Jisung what the hell are you hiding?" Minho asked a little louder, getting the attention of the other eight boys at the table. They all were looking at the Jisung with confused eyes.

"Please show me your face." Minho asked again.

"Jisung what's going on?" Seungmin asked worried.

"Nothing, there's nothing going on." Jisung said in panic.

Minho couldn't take his boyfriend's stalling anymore and quickly grabbed the fabric of Jisung's collar, wanting to pull it down for him but his finger accidentally nudged the bruised cheek.

"Ow!" Jisung winced, flinching away.

Minho retracted his hand and his eyes widened. Everyone else at the table stopped moving, they all stared at Jisung with worried eyes.

"Are you ok?"

"Why did you say 'ow'?"

"What happened?"

Jisung sighed and looked down. He knew he couldn't stall any longer. He was just preparing himself for all their reactions and Minho's outburst.

"Jisung you better pull that goddamn collar from your face." Seungmin demanded.

Jisung hesitated before finally bringing down the price of fabric and exposing his face to the eight boys around him. Everyone gasped, they were certain that Jisung wouldn't get hurt ever again, especially after Chan and Minho threatened everyone. The other times were mentally beating him down but this time someone actually beat him physically.

Minho, on the other hand, was balling his fists so tightly, his knuckles were white. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were the darkest they have ever been. Pure flames flashed through his eyes.

"Who did this to you." Minho said through his clenched teeth.

"It doesn't matter. I'm fine." Jisung brushed off.

"No you're not. Tell me who hurt you and why." Minho said, leaving no room for discussion.

Jisung glanced around the table, Felix, Jeongin, Yedam, Woojin, Hyunjin and Changbin had worry evident on their faces. They all had an underline of pure anger but Seungmin, and Chan were furious.

Jisung looked down, "Hwajoon did it to try and get you to break up with me so you could date him."

When Minho heard the name of the person who did it, rage flowed through him like lava. He scanned the cafeteria and found where Hwajoon was sitting at. Just by looking at his face, the rage inside Minho boiled. He stormed over to where Hwajoon was sitting at and everyone in the cafeteria went silent as they stared at where Minho was going. They knew what was happening. They've seen it happen many times, by now it was just a game of guessing who the next victim was going to be.

Hwajoon looked up in curiosity when he heard the cafeteria go quiet and he saw his crush walking over to him. His eyes lit up, thinking that his plan actually worked, totally oblivious at the fact that a fire was flowing out of Minho.

"Hey Minho! Did you finally realize who's better for yo-" His sentence was cut short from Minho's fist colliding with his cheek, knocking him off the bench.

It was Hwajoon's turn to be in excruciating pain. It took him by surprise at first, he didn't think this was going to be the turn out of the situation. It's what he least expected, but soon that shock was overwhelmed by the pain he felt.

Hwajoon stumbled back up from the floor as he said "Ow! What was that fo-"

Minho swung his fist a little harder this time and aimed for the middle of Hwajoon's face. The boy's head snapped backwards, giving him whiplash as he lost his balance. The sound of Hwajoon's nose breaking, echoed throughout the cafeteria as the boy cried out in pain, holding his bleeding nose. Everyone gasped and cringed at the noise. Tears started to form in Hwajoon's eyes and were threatening to fall any second.

"Who the _fuck_ are you, thinking you're allowed lay a finger on Jisung? I thought I told your bitchass to stay ten feet away from him at all times. You must think I'm a joke." Minho dryly chuckled.

Hwajoon quickly denied his last sentence. "N-no I don't think you're a joke, I just thought you needed to realize that Jisung isn't-"

Minho punched Hwajoon in the gut because he didn't want to hear him finish that sentence. The injured boy groaned out and doubled over, slowly falling onto the floor.

Just thinking about what Hwajoon was going to say, made Minho even more furious and he kept swinging his fists at the boy. Hwajoon moved his hands up to his face, thinking it would protect himself from Minho's fists but unfortunately they did nothing of the sort. After about five punches Minho felt a hand on his shoulder. He whipped around, eager to see the person who dared touch him, but when he met eyes with his boyfriend, his eyes softened.

"Minho I think you've hurt him enough. I'm okay. Stop it before you make him black out." Jisung said softly, placing a hand on Minho's chest, knowing that this calmed him down.

Minho took a deep breath and turned to the bleeding boy on the floor. "I went easy on you this time, but the next time you mess with us, I won't hesitate to hold back." Minho spat before walking away with his boyfriend.

Jisung dragged them to the bathroom. He grabbed paper towels and wet them under the sink, getting deja vu from ten minutes earlier.

"Are you ok?" Jisung asked quietly while he wiped the blood away from Minho's knuckles.

"I'm fine babe, it isn't even my blood. I should be asking you that question."

"I told you I'm okay. Maybe in pain but nothing I haven't experienced before." Jisung shrugged.

"Can you tell me what happened." Minho silently begged.

Jisung sighed, "It's not even that important."

Minho grabbed Jisung's hand and held it in his own, causing Jisung to look up at him. "Stop saying that. We're dating Jisung and I care about you _so_ much, so everything that you do and everything that happens to you, is important to me. No matter how small you think it is, it's a big deal to me because it's about _you_."

Jisung's eyes weld up with tears, not because he was sad or anything but because he felt so blessed and genuinely happy. Minho always found a way to make Jisung feel all warm inside and make his heart melt.

"Now, please tell me what happened."

"After I dropped the paper off at the teacher's room, I was walking back to the cafeteria when Hwajoon popped out of nowhere, telling me how he doesn't understand why you picked me instead of him and that he's better looking and whatever-"

"You know that's not true right?"

Jisung shrugged.

"Babe stop it."

"I didn't do anything!"

"Yes you did and you know it. He's saying nonsense just to bring you down. You are absolutely beautiful and perfect, don't let some low life tell you otherwise, okay? I don't want to see you be sad from what others say, especially Hwajoon because he's so full of shit, you shouldn't even care."

Jisung felt the tears threatening to spill. He leaned up and pecked his boyfriend's lips. "Okay." He said softly before he continued his story. "He then said that he'll prove to you how much of an eyesore I am. Then he punched me and his rings cut my face. But I'm okay so don't get mad please."

Minho let out a big breath just to calm himself down. Of course he was still livid but he tried to keep a calm front for Jisung. "Why would you try to hide it?" He asked softly.

"Because I knew you were going to get mad and that you would beat him up. Y'know, I didn't want him to get hurt."

"Yeah but he deserved it." Minho grumbled.

"Minho you broke his nose."

The gang member snorted, "I would've done a lot more if you didn't stop me."

Jisung rolled his eyes, "I don't know why, but I still somehow feel bad for him."

"You shouldn't. He's an asshole and he deserved every punch and more."

"I know, I know." Jisung pouted.

"You're so nice, which isn't a bad thing, I actually admire that about you, but you can't be nice to people like him because they don't deserve it."

"You're right. That's why I have you, to balance me out." Jisung said making Minho smile.

Jisung knew that Minho was going to fight at least one person this school year, it was inevitable. _Never_ in his life would he have known that the reason for Minho's first fight of the year was going to be because of him.

The bell rang indicating that lunch was over. The two boys walked to their classroom and no one in the halls made any eye contact. They all scattered when the couple walked near them. When the two walked in the class, their friends were already sitting at their desks.

"Jisung are you ok?" Felix asked as soon as Jisung got to his desk.

"Yes I'm fine. Seriously." Jisung smiled.

"If I ever see Hwajoon again I'm gonna-"

"No you're not." Jisung cut Seungmin off. "I think Minho did enough damage to the poor guy."

Seungmin slumped and Hyunjin chuckled at his boyfriend's reaction.

"What happened after we left." Minho asked.

"Oh everyone stayed quiet." Felix answered.

"All you could hear was Hwajoon rolling around on the floor, groaning in pain." Changbin said.

"And no one moved to help him." Seungmin added on.

"Eventually some teacher walked into the cafeteria and saw Hwajoon on the floor and helped him to the nurses office." Hyunjin continued.

"After he left everyone stayed silent. Well except us but yeah." Felix finished off.

"That's unfortunate." Minho said with no emotion whatsoever and Jisung playfully slapped his arm while chuckling.

"Poor guy. He's probably gonna be so embarrassed." Jisung said.

"Good." All five of them said simultaneously causing Jisung to laugh.

-

"I'm sure. I'm 100% sure now." The boss said.

"A 100% sure? Of what?" Yeonjun asked.

"Of Minho loving Jisung, you dumbass." He growled.

"Oh you don't say?" Yeonjun said sarcastically. The boss ignored him.

"What made you change your mind?" Taehyun asked.

"Well, at JYP today, Hwajoon being the desperate idiot he is, punched Jisung's face because he actually believed that it would make Minho think Jisung's ugly and that Minho would come crawling to him. But of course when Minho saw his face forming a bruise and the cuts on it, he beat the hell out of Hwajoon and only stopped because Jisung told him to. Minho then told Hwajoon that if he ever went near them again, then he wouldn't hold back."

"Ok and..?" Seoho asked.

"And it's shows that Minho loves Jisung or else he wouldn't have beat someone up with so much rage, if he didn't." The boss concluded.

"I thought that was obvious though, he slapped Hwajoon before because of Jisung." Beomgyu said and everyone agreed.

"Yeah we all kinda already knew he loved him." Huening Kai added on.

"Yeah well, I had to be 1000% sure." The boss snapped.

"Okay geez." Xion said with big eyes.

"Well now what." Leedo asked.

"Are we finally agreeing to use Jisung for the plan?" Taehyun needed clarification.

"Yeah and speaking of the plan, are we gonna start anytime soon because I'm tired of waiting." Ravn chimed in.

"First, we prepare and make sure we all know what's happening." The boss looked around, "Because now that we have Jisung, we're finally going to start the plan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the rest of the book will be a wild ride now that this plan is going to take action 😜 jk... unless-
> 
> i feel bad for making txt and oneus the bad guys because they're such babies irl
> 
> opinions?
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- new project  
\- secrets  
\- "this'll be fun. don't you think minho?"
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	31. t h i r t y .

**A month later**

It was Wednesday and Jisung already wanted the week to be over. People always said that junior year was the hardest year and Jisung prepared himself for it but it was a slap to the face. He didn't expect it to be _this_ hard. He was only three months into the year but it felt more like three years and it was only going to get worse.

Currently, the six boys were just hanging out since they finished all their class work. They were just waiting for the next subject to start.

"Did you guys hear about the new student?" Felix said.

"Another one? I swear to god we get a new student every other week. I'm surprised this school isn't overpopulated yet." Seungmin scoffed.

"It's not overpopulated because half of them leave after a month because of _someone_." Jisung said, staring right at his boyfriend.

Minho held his hands up in surrender. "The last person I punched was Hwajoon and he actually deserved it."

"Whether he deserved it or not, he still left the school because of you which further proves my point."

"No, he left because he couldn't take the embarrassment."

"That _you_ caused."

"Are you mad at me for punching him?" Minho raised his eyebrow.

"No, of course not!"

"Then why-"

"You guys sound like an old married couple. Shut up already." Hyunjin interrupted making the couple close their mouths. "Anyways, what the new kid's name?"

"Uh, I don't remember. Moonshin? Moonbin?" Felix furrowed his eyes, trying to remember when his eyes suddenly lit up, "OH! Moonjin! His name's Moonjin. He's also in our grade, but he's in another class obviously."

Jisung felt Minho tense up almost instantly. Hyunjin and Changbin snapped their neck towards Minho and looked at him with wide eyes. Jisung looked up at his boyfriend and he looked sick, his eyes darting between Changbin and Hyunjin. Jisung looked at Seungmin and Felix and they had the same confusion written all over their face.

The boy looked back at his boyfriend. "Are you ok? You suddenly turned pale. What's wrong?"

Minho slightly relaxed his tense self and looked down at his Jisung. "Yeah I'm fine, don't worry." He smiled but there was something off about the smile. It looked, forced.

Jisung decided to let it go. "Well I hope this Moonjin guy isn't like Hwajoon." He said to Felix.

"Yeah me neither, we don't need another one." Seungmin said.

"Maybe he's a nice guy." Felix shrugged.

Before anyone had a chance to reply back, the teacher cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"I'm going to be opening the wall up and don't ask any questions yet, I'll answer everything after I open the wall." The teacher said while he walked to the back of the classroom.

The wall that separates the classroom Jisung's in, and the classroom beside his, isn't a real wall. It's this thick door like thing, that folds open, and when it's folded open, there's nothing that distinguishes the two classrooms and it basically merges into one giant classroom.

When Jisung's teacher opened the wall, he saw the students in the other classroom looking as confused as the students in his classroom. The students in the other classroom were juniors too. 

The teacher from the other side walked over to where Jisung's teacher was standing. "You're all probably very confused on why we opened this wall. Well we have assigned a science project to you all and since me and Mr. Park are assigning the same project, we thought it would be more fun to explain it at the same time."

The students groaned at the mention of the new project, but the teachers ignored it. "We have chosen your partners for you and for the most part, you'll be partners with people in your class, but some of you will be partners with someone from the other class."

"It is a science project. It's very vague because we want you and your partners to be creative and to explore all the ideas. But essentially you and your partner will have to create a project that produces a chemical reaction." Mr. Park added on.

"You will not be presenting it but you will have to write a paper on how your project produces a chemical reaction and what that reaction is."

"You will have a month to turn it in. Any questions?" No one raised their hands. "Alright, we're going to tell you your partners now."

_Please let me be with someone that's not a bitch. _Jisung begged.

"... Lee Minho and Seo Changbin... Hwang Hyunjin and Kim Seungmin... Lee Felix and Jung Wooyoung."

Jisung waited for his name to be called. All his friends had their partners, Jisung honestly didn't care who was his partner. He just didn't want a rude person.

"Han Jisung and Park Moonjin."

_Hm? The new kid?_

Jisung felt his boyfriend tense again and he didn't know why. What was causing him to tense up?

"Okay those are your partners, you have about five minutes to meet up with them and briefly talk. Go."

Jisung stood up, about to go find his partner when someone grabbed his wrist. He looked at Minho with confusion.

"Tell the teacher you need to change your partner now." He said sternly, not making eye contact with Jisung.

The shorter boy furrowed his eyebrows, "Huh? Why?"

"Just do it."

Before Jisung could say anything, someone interrupted their conversation. "Han Jisung?"

The mentioned boy turned around and was face to face with the new guy. He was the same height as Minho and had black hair that covered his forehead. He wore all black and had a slim face. "Yeah that's me." Jisung smiled. He felt Minho's grip on his wrist tighten, not enough to hurt him but tighter than before.

"Would you look at that! I'm partners with Minho's boyfriend? This'll be fun. Don't you think so Minho?" Moonjin looked behind Jisung and smirked at the gang member.

Minho suddenly pulled Jisung behind him and stood in front of him protectively. He had rage bubbling inside him and glared fire at the new kid. "Don't even fucking _think_ about it or I'll do the same to you as I did to Jaewoo." He said through his clenched jaw.

Moonjin's smirk quickly turned into a scowl once he heard the name Jaewoo. He glared daggers at Minho.

Jisung was totally lost. Why was his boyfriend talking like that to the new kid? What did Moonjin mean? Do they know each other? Who the hell is Jaewoo?

"What do you mean?" Jisung asked the new kid.

Moonjin glanced at Jisung and smiled, he stared back at Minho, "Minho knows exactly what I mean." He smirked again.

For some reason Minho lost his shit and grabbed Moonjin's collar. "If you fucking do _anything _to him-"

Moonjin didn't look fazed at the fact that Minho grabbed his shirt and was threatening him as he interrupted him and said, "Relax Minho, I'm not the same person as I used to be. I've changed... or have I?" He winked.

That was enough for Minho to raise his fist at Moonjin who didn't even flinch. Before Jisung could even process what was happening, Changbin and Hyunjin quickly ran to Minho's side. Changbin grabbed the fist that was about to hit the new kid. "Don't do it Minho. Remember the rule." He whispered into his ear.

Minho hesitated before he shoved the new kid away from him. The gang member huffed out in annoyance and Moonjin just smirked mockingly to Minho.

"Ok please go back to your seat." The teacher announced.

Moonjin smiled at Minho before he turned to Jisung. "I'm looking forward to work on this project with you Han Jisung." He winked at him. Jisung shifted uncomfortably on his feet, there was something about the way Moonjin said his name and the wink that didn't sit right with him, but he ignored it. Minho, on the other hand, was not very fond of it as he tried to pounce him, but Hyunjin and Changbin was holding him back. They held him until Mr. Park had closed the wall.

Minho slumped back at his desk, not saying anything. Jisung wanted to asked so many questions but he decided to give Minho some time to cool off first.

-

After the bell rang for the last time of the day, Jisung quickly packed up and sat on his desk, facing his boyfriend, who was leaning on his desk with his head hung low.

"Jisung talk to Mr. Park and tell him that you need to change your partner." Minho demanded again, not giving Jisung any explanation.

"Why do you want me to change partners so badly? What's wrong with Moonjin?" Jisung asked a bit frustrated.

Minho stayed quiet.

"Jisung you really need to get a new partner." Hyunjin said.

Changbin agreed, "Like now."

Jisung look at them in surprise. _Why are they telling me to change my partner too? _It was his turn to stay quiet.

"Jisung, I'm begging you, change your partner _please._" Minho finally looked up at his boyfriend and Jisung saw a void of pure desperation in his eyes. The shorter boy's eyes softened immediately.

"Okay." Jisung said softly. "I'll talk to Mr. Park right now." Minho looked almost relieved.

"I'll meet you at my locker after I'm done talking with him." Jisung turned to his friends, "You two can walk home without me, I don't want you to wait for me and I'll just have Minho take me home." Jisung said and Minho and his friends nodded their heads, leaving the classroom.

As Seungmin and Felix were leaving the classroom, they turned around and looked at Jisung giving him a look that said_ 'what the hell is going on?' _Jisung just shrugged back.

After they finally left the classroom, Jisung walked up to the teachers desk. Mr. Park looked up, "Ah Jisung. What's up?"

"Can I have my partner changed for the science project please?" Jisung asked politely.

"I think you're a perfect partner for Moonjin. He's new and you're the class president, you can help him feel welcome. I think you guys will work well together."

"Can't you get one of the students from the welcoming committee to help him feel welcome?"

"Unfortunately, this is a class project, they don't do that for projects."

"Don't you think if he was partners with someone in his class it will be better since he's going to be in that classroom for the rest of the year so it's better if he makes a new friend that's in his class?"

"That's true but since this is his first project at this school, we want him to be with someone that will be helpful to him and I think you're the best person for that."

Jisung internally screamed. "Mr. Park please, I _have_ to get a new partner."

"Jisung I never thought you would ever have a problem with being partners with a new kid. Why are you being so persistent about getting a new partner I see no problem with the choice I've made."

"I just really _really_ need a different partner. Just this one time." Jisung begged.

"No Jisung. I truly think you're a good person for Moonjin. And he also asked for you to be his partner so I think it's perfect."

Jisung stopped. _He asked to be my partner? How did he even know who I was?_

"Okay Mr. Park." Jisung said skeptically, looking at his teacher suspiciously before walking out the door to his locker.

"Did you get it changed?" Minho asked, hopeful.

"Nope. Mr. Park wouldn't let me change and trust me, I came up with every excuse to have him change my partner." Jisung packed up.

Minho tensed up again. His eyes were emotionless which made it hard for Jisung to read them. Not like Minho's eyes were easy to read in the first place but now it was just impossible.

"Minho what is wrong? Why do you get so tense whenever someone mentions his name?" Jisung slammed his locker out of frustration. Minho didn't say anything, he just grabbed his hand and led them to his car. He started it up and began the way to Jisung's house.

"Minho stop ignoring me. What the hell did he mean when he said you would know exactly what he meant? Why aren't you telling me anything?" Jisung huffed.

"...I know you have a lot of questions. And I promise I'll answer them all eventually... But for now you just have to trust me and just take my word and listen because I will hate myself if anything happens."

_If anything happens? What the hell does he mean by that?_

"Please just trust me on this."

Jisung stayed quiet for a second. _There has to be a really good reason on why he's not telling me. Right? If he really wanted to tell me then he would. Maybe there's just a good reason on why he won't tell me and I just have to trust his word._

"Okay. I trust you."

Minho relaxed a little. He took one hand off the steering wheel and held Jisung's hand, pulling it up to his lips and kissing it. He then pulled up to Jisung's house.

Jisung debated on whether or not he should tell Minho the fact that Moonjin asked to be his partner. He knew for a fact that Minho would not take it lightly and he really didn't want another Hwajoon situation to happen. Ultimately he chose to tell him.

"...Uh," Jisung started saying and Minho turned to look at him after he parked his car. "When I was talking with the teacher, he said that Moonjin asked to be my partner and that just made the teachers further believe that partnering me with him was a great idea." Jisung quietly explained.

Minho looked away from Jisung and his grip on the steering wheel was brutal. His knuckles were the color of paper and he was shaking from how hard he was grabbing it. His breathing increased and became heavier. His jaw was visibly strained.

_Oh fuck._

"Haha, maybe that's not true. Maybe I didn't hear that from the teacher and I'm just going crazy and hallucinating. Forget I said anything." Jisung awkwardly tried to laugh it off, wanting to get Minho to calm down, but obviously that didn't work.

He looked deep in thought. About what? Jisung couldn't tell you. He could be plotting death or he could be thinking about all the possibilities on why Moonjin would ask the teachers to be partners with Jisung specifically.

Jisung gently placed his hand on Minho's cheek, pushing it so he could look at him. "I don't know what you're thinking about and I know that you don't want to tell me yet, which is fine, but I don't like seeing you this mad or stressed over something that doesn't even seem like a big deal." He pouted.

Minho's eyes immediately softened at Jisung's words. "If anything weird happens to you or something please tell me right away."

Jisung gave a confused look. "Why would anything weird happen to me?"

"Jisung please, just promise that you'll tell me immediately."

"Okay, I promise." He said softly and his boyfriend looked a little relieved.

"Anything else I should know?" Jisung said sarcastically.

"Don't hang out with Moonjin alone." Minho replied immediately, almost as if he was waiting for Jisung to ask that question.

Jisung raised an eyebrow, "Minho I was joking."

"I'm not."

The shorter boy opened and closed his mouth several times before asking, "How the hell am I supposed to do the project if I can't hang with Moonjin? He's my partner."

"You can hang with him... Just not alone. Or I can help you work on your project instead so you don't even have to be near him at all." Minho offered.

"I don't think that's how that works." Jisung said. "What if he asks me to work on it at his house?"

"You say no and suggest the library or Rock Cafe or somewhere public, and then you tell me and I'll work on the science project with Changbin at the same place and same time."

Jisung narrowed his eyes at Minho. _Why is he being so protective? I mean I knew he was going to protective to a certain extent since he's in a gang and all but he's never cared this much about a person. Not even Hwajoon. Who the hell is Moonjin?_

"Fine." Jisung agreed.

Minho smiled for the first time for what seemed like forever, and Jisung missed it. "Thank you." The gang member said.

"There better be an amazing explanation for this."

"I'll tell you soon." Minho said before he pecked Jisung's lips.

-

Jisung sat in his bed watching something on his tv when his brother walked into his room, startling the younger.

"Jesus Christ hyung, a knock would be appreciated."

"Yeah but then I wouldn't be able to scare you." Brain laughed, sitting on Jisung's bed.

The younger rolled his eyes, "What do you want?"

"I wanna talk about your boyfriend."

Jisung started sweating. _Did he find out? No he would be more pissed if he knew._

"What about him?" He asked as normal as he could.

"When am I going to meet him?"

"You already did..."

Brian gave Jisung a look that said,_ 'this little bitch'. _"Seeing him carrying you while you were bleeding and injured, doesn't count. Especially when I saw him for ten seconds and didn't even say a word to him."

Jisung snorted. "I don't want you to meet him. You're gonna embarrass me."

"Your life itself is embarrassing, I don't think you should be worrying so much about me embarrassing you." Brian rolled his eyes.

The younger boy's jaw dropped. "Ok now you're definitely not going to meet him. I'll introduce him to Jihyo noona only."

Brian scoffed. "I'll meet him one day, it's inevitable."

"Maybe you're right, but I'll introduce him to mom and dad before you." Jisung stuck his tongue out at his brother.

Brian's eyes widened, "If mom and dad meet him before I do, then that's a low move on your part."

Jisung laughed. "Why do you even want to meet him so bad."

"Because he's your boyfriend! Of course I want to meet him. I wanna make sure he's good for you. You know, typical older brother things."

"Fine! I'll bring him over sometime." He said and Brian cheered.

"What about you? Are you dating anyone?" Jisung asked.

"Oh would you look at that, gotta go." Brian said, running out the door.

_What a child._

Jisung's phone started buzzing and he was receiving a video call from his friends. He answered on his laptop.

"Oh hey Jisung." Seungmin talked first.

"Oh hey Seungmin."

"So what the hell happened in class? Who is this Moonjin guy and why does the gang _and_ Yedam know him?" Jeongin asked.

Jisung sighed, "Felix asked us if we knew about the new kid and Hyunjin asked what his name was and Felix said Moonjin and once he said his name, Minho froze and Hyunjin and Changbin immediately looked at Minho with big eyes. Then we were assigned a new science project and guess who my partner is." Jisung didn't even wait for Jeongin to reply before he said, "Yup you guessed it, Moonjin."

"Isn't he in another class?"

"Yeah but the two teachers decided to open up the wall and explain to both classes at the same time and assign some people to be partners from the other class."

"Oh god. How'd Minho react?"

"Not good. He told me to tell the teacher to change my partner and I asked why and he just said to do it. Then Moonjin walked up to us and said that being my partner would be fun and then he asked Minho for confirmation and Minho pulled me behind him and said something like, 'don't even think about it'. Then I asked Moonjin what he meant and he said that Minho would understand what he meant and then Minho grabbed him and almost punched him." Jisung heaved after explaining everything in one breath.

"Almost?" Jeongin brought his eyebrows close together.

"Hyunjin and Changbin stopped him before he could." Seungmin answered.

"Yeah and I don't understand why they would stop him now when they've never done it before." Felix wondered.

"Obviously Minho and the gang know who this Moonjin guy is." Jeongin pointed out.

"We just don't know how." Jisung said.

"Anyways continue with your story."

"Minho let go of Moonjin and pushed him to the ground and then the teacher told everyone to go back to their seats and the teacher finally closed up the wall. After the school day was over, Minho basically begged me to go ask the teacher for a new partner. Hyunjin and Changbin even told me to change my partner. So I agreed and I asked Mr. Park to change my partner. But guess what? He wouldn't change my partner."

"Wait he didn't change it?" Felix asked and Jisung shook his head.

"Why the hell not?" Seungmin asked.

"Because he thought it would be great for the class president and the new kid to be partners."

"That's such bullshit."

"Yep. He also mentioned that Moonjin asked them specifically to be partners with me."

"Woah hold up. Moonjin _asked _to be partners with you?" Jeongin repeated.

"Yep."

"How does he know who you are?" Seungmin asked, not liking what he heard.

"Why would he ask for you specifically?" Felix questioned.

Jisung shrugged. "I don't know but when I told Minho he wasn't very happy."

"Yeah I'm too happy either." Seungmin scoffed.

"Minho wouldn't tell me who Moonjin is or how they know each other. He said he would tell me at some point just not now and he told me to trust his word which I did and I do, but I still really want to know who he is." Jisung groaned.

"There's probably a good reason why he isn't telling you yet." Jeongin chimed in.

"Yeah yeah."

It was quiet for a second before Felix said, "Oh! When we left the classroom after school, we walked back to the lockers right? And everyone was there, Chan asked where you were and Minho stayed quiet so Hyunjin explained that you were in the classroom talking to the teacher. Woojin then asked what you were talking to the teacher about. Changbin then explained that you were asking to get your partner switched for the project. Then Yedam asked why you would want to get your partner changed and who your partner was. Hyunjin and Changbin looked at each other, hesitating to his name before Minho said 'it's Moonjin' in a really low voice."

"After Minho said his name, Chan, Woojin and Yedam all widened their eyes and froze, staring at Minho." Seungmin finished for Felix.

"If Yedam also knows who he is then it can't be a gang thing." Jisung tried to conclude.

"Well, you never know. Even if Yedam's not apart of the gang, he's brothers with the gang leader so he probably knows everything that's going on with Stray Kids." Felix pointed out.

"This hurts my brain." Jeongin said while rubbing his temples.

"Minho told me to tell him right away if anything weird happens to me." Jisung said.

"Why would anything weird happen to you?" Felix asked.

"That's what I said. But he just made me promise that I would. He also told me not to hang out with Moonjin alone and to work on the project in a public area so that him and Changbin could work on their project at the same place at the same time."

"Okay who the hell is this Moonjin guy and why are they all being so protective of us?" Seungmin asked. "Hyunjin told me not to go anywhere near Moonjin but he wouldn't tell me who he was either."

"Yeah Changbin told me the same."

"Yedam too."

"I wish I knew." Jisung sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for this awkward ending to the chapter. and sorry if my explanation of the wall made no sense.
> 
> opinions on moonjin? who do you think jaewoo and moonjin are?
> 
> the next chapter is one of my faves (^.^) hehe stay tuned for tuesday
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- he finally meets them  
\- a lot is explained  
\- things get spicy 🥵
> 
> tell me what you think is going to happen in the next chapter :)


	32. t h i r t y o n e .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little heads up, this is a long chapter

It was Saturday and Jisung was so thankful. The week has been stressful especially after Moonjin came in the picture. The next day after they got their partners, he tried to talk to Jisung whenever the boy was alone but once Jisung told Minho about it, Minho never left Jisung's side. Moonjin stopped trying to talk to him and instead hung out with Soobin.

Jisung got an incoming call from his boyfriend. "Hey babe." He answered the phone.

"So I was thinking," Minho started.

"Oh that's never good." Jisung mumbled jokingly.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that." He said making Jisung laugh. "Anyways, like I was saying, I was thinking that you should come over."

Jisung stopped breathing for a second. "What." He peeped.

"Chan hyung and Woojin hyung wanted to hang out with everyone so Hyunjin, Changbin, and Yedam are inviting Seungmin, Felix and Jeongin and I'm inviting you."

Jisung stayed silent, comprehending what Minho just asked. _He's inviting me over to his house? The gang's house?_

"I'm not asking by the way, I'm just giving you a heads up because I'm picking you up in about an hour." He laughed.

"You're telling me this now?"

"I didn't know until today. Chan hyung literally told me like ten minutes ago."

"What if I have plans today?" Jisung didn't have any plans but he just wanted to see what Minho would say.

"Do you have any plans today?" He asked.

"I might."

"Oh." Minho said upset. "I wanted to spend time with you. With who?"

"I'm just kidding, I'll be ready by the time you pick me up." Jisung laughed.

"That was a dick move Han."

Jisung giggled, "Oh well. Oh also, my siblings want to meet you so when you pick me up, you might have to talk to them."

"Oh god, should I be scared?"

Jisung snorted, "I don't think you have anything to be scared about. My sister already loves you and my brother isn't going to do anything."

Minho let out a sigh of relief, making Jisung laugh at his dramatic boyfriend, "Now leave me alone, I have to get ready." He said.

Minho chuckled, "Okay okay, I'll see you in an hour."

When Minho hung up, Jisung jumped up from his couch and checked the time. _12:25 P.M. _He went upstairs to take a shower and freshen up. Afterwards he walked to his closet and got ready, deciding to wear a hoodie and ripped jeans. Once Jisung was done getting ready, he checked the time again. _1:14 P.M. _He walked downstairs and saw his sister watching something on the couch and his brother eating something at the table.

They both looked at Jisung once he walked down. "Where are you going?" His brother asked.

"I'm going to Minho's house. He's picking me up any minute now."

Jihyo and Brian propped up. "He's coming here?" She asked.

"Yep." Jisung already knew what was coming.

"Oh that's great!" Brian smiled. "Looks like we're about to meet him."

"Just don't, scare him." Jisung said half heartedly, he knew nothing but heights scared Minho.

"Oh please Jisung, we just want to introduce ourselves. I already approve of him." Jihyo smiled.

"I just have a few questions for him." His brother said.

"If you ask him what his favorite sport is, I'm going to drag him out of this house." Jisung warned.

"Hey! If he's a fan of any sport other than basketball then he doesn't get my approval." Jisung and Jihyo just rolled their eyes.

Just then, the intercom buzzed, indicating that someone was requesting to get through the gate. "Guess he's here." Brian said, buzzing Minho in.

"Oh god, please don't be annoying." Jisung begged.

"Us? Annoying? Never!"

There was a knock at the door. "Oh look who's here!" Jihyo wiggled her eyes at her younger brother.

Jisung got up and answered the door. There stood his boyfriend in a casual outfit. "Hey babe." Minho smiled.

"I'm so sorry in advance." Jisung whispered leaving Minho confused.

Before he could ask, the door flew open even wider and there stood Jihyo and Brian. Jihyo was smiling while Brian tried to look serious and intimidating.

"You must be Minho!" Jihyo said happily.

Minho bowed, catching Jisung off guard. He honestly didn't know that Minho knew how to bow. "Yeah that's me." Minho smiled back.

"I'm Jisung's older sister, Jihyo, and that thing over there is Jisung's older brother." She lazily pointed to the oldest making Jisung laugh.

Brian glared at his sister. "That _thing _has a name and he's older than you." He turned to Minho "I'm Brian."

"Nice to meet you." Minho smiled.

"I mean we've already met but that's not the point, the point is, what is your favorite sport?" Brian raised his eyebrows, watching Minho's every move.

Jihyo groaned loudly as Jisung rolled his eyes. "Oh my god." They both said.

Minho gave a confused look at Jisung before looking back at Brian. "Uh... Basketball?"

Brian's facial expression and mood drastically changed as he smiled for the first time at Minho. "Oh you got a keeper." He said to Jisung, shaking his shoulders.

"Welcome to the family Minho, we approve of you." Jihyo said.

"Yeah come inside, let's talk more." Brian invited.

Jisung quickly walked out the door and grabbed Minho's hand while saying "Definitely not, we have somewhere to be. Bye guys." He dragged Minho back to the car.

"Bye you two!" Jihyo said.

"Have fun but not too much fun!" Brian called out, you could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Oh my god hyung shut up!" Jisung called out, mortified causing Brian and Minho to bust out laughing.

When they got into the car, Jisung hid his face in his hands. "I am so sorry for that." He mumbled.

"Why? I like talking to them." Minho said amused.

Jisung glared at him, "Just drive." Minho laughed and started up the car, driving to his house.

The drive wasn't short but it wasn't long. They talked for the most of it. Jisung knew what to expect since Jeongin told him all about it but he was still nervous.

Once they got close to the first gate, Minho said, "Ok don't freak out."

Jisung chuckled, "Babe I know what's about to happen."

The gang member brought his eyebrows close together, "You do?"

"Yeah. Jeongin told us when Yedam brought him over. So you don't have to explain cause I already know."

"Ok great, that makes my life easier." Minho smiled.

When they got to the first gate, two giant dudes popped up and Minho rolled down both windows.

"Hey Minho." The first guard asked.

"Hey BM."

"Who's that?" BM pointed to Jisung.

"Han Jisung."

BM looked at a piece of paper before he nodded his head at Minho and backed away, disappearing into the woods. Minho rolled the windows back up and drove once the gate opened.

"Well that's not intimidating." Jisung said out loud making Minho laugh.

"BM is a nice dude."

"Yeah I bet."

They drove up to the second gate and Minho scanned his eye and fingerprint which opened the gate. They drove for a bit further into the woods.

"You have to do that every time you come home?" Jisung asked.

"Yeah pretty much."

"The poor guards." Jisung sympathized.

Minho smiled, "They don't stay there all day. We have different guards every few hours."

Jisung finally was able to see the palace that Minho called home. _Wow Jeongin really wasn't kidding when he said it looked like a castle. It's bigger than how Jeongin explained._

Minho drove up to the front of the castle and they got out of the car. A guy popped out of nowhere and Minho threw his keys to him, the guy climbed into the car and drove off. The gang member guided Jisung to the front door, opening it. The boy was overwhelmed by the size and the expensive interior decor.

"Jeongin really wasn't kidding when he said your house was huge." Jisung looked around, amazed.

"Yeah well," Minho said almost shyly.

"Is that Jisung and Minho I hear?" It was Woojin's voice coming from who knows where.

Suddenly all eight of them popped up from one of the hallways. "What took you so long? I left after you." Changbin asked.

"Well, I had to meet Jisung's siblings." Minho explained.

Everyone's eyes shot to Jisung. "Oh god, how'd that go?" Chan asked.

"I am sorry for whatever he did." Woojin apologized.

"Did he screw it up?" Hyunjin asked.

"Did he even bow to them?" Changbin asked.

"I bet you he forgot to even do that." Yedam slightly hit Changbin's chest.

"What does Jihyo noona and Brian hyung think of him?" Felix asked.

"Did Brian hyung ask him that dumbass question?" Seungmin asked.

"Jihyo noona probably loves him doesn't she?" Jeongin assumed.

Jisung busted out laughing at all their questions while Minho, on the other hand, looked hurt at their lack of confidence in him.

"They love me and I did bow for your information."

They looked at Jisung for confirmation. "Yeah my siblings approve of him. And he did bow, surprisingly-"

"Surprisingly?" Minho turned towards his boyfriend.

"I genuinely didn't know if you knew how to bow." Jisung said in all honesty making everyone laugh.

"And yeah Brian hyung did ask that stupid question." Jisung answered, making Seungmin, Jeongin and Felix all groan.

"What stupid question?" Yedam asked.

"What his favorite sport is. My brother loves basketball."

"Oh so does Minho." Chan chimed in.

"Yeah so that's the reason why my brother loves him."

"Wow Minho, sorry for doubting you buddy, but our reason should be justified."

Minho playfully rolled his eyes, "I'm just glad that it's over."

"Oh but it's not." Seungmin said, making Minho look at him with confusion. "You still have to meet Jisung's parents." He pointed out.

"Oh yeah. Good luck with that." Jeongin chimed in.

"Yeah, they're terrifying as hell." Felix added.

Minho worriedly looked at the three back and forth before he looked at his boyfriend. "It's ok, that's a problem for next time." Jisung patted Minho's shoulder.

The gang member looked back at his friends with his slightly mouth open. They all stared back, not knowing how to help him. Then Jisung, Seungmin, Felix, and Jeongin all bursted out laughing, leaving everyone confused.

"Minho calm down, my parents aren't scary." Jisung said between laughs.

"Yeah Jisung's parents are the sweetest." Felix said.

Minho relaxed immensely. "Oh you're gonna get it." He said to Jisung, making him start running.

"This isn't fair, I don't know my way around this palace!" Jisung yelled.

"Good!" Minho yelled back.

Jisung quickly hid behind Woojin. Minho stopped immediately in front of the older, not doing anything because he knew that Woojin would not deal with anyone's shit.

"Go ahead." Woojin said calmly but Minho knew better.

"I'm good." Minho said backing off a bit.

"Yeah that's what I thought."

"Smart move Han." Minho said.

Jisung peaked out from behind Woojin and smiled at his boyfriend. "Yeah I know."

"Okay you children, let's go to the basement." Chan said.

Jisung jumped on Jeongin's back, catching the boy by surprise. "Hey hyung." He said.

"Hey Innie. I feel like I haven't talked to you in forever." Jisung said dramatically.

"We literally talked last night." Jeongin rolled his eyes jokingly.

"Oh yeah. I wish you were in our class though."

"Me too hyung."

"Hey but at least you have Yedam." Jisung smiled at the boy.

Yedam grabbed Jeongin's hand. "Yeah he does." He smiled back, making Jeongin's cheek tint a little. "Ew, affection." Jisung gagged.

"Shut up, don't act like Minho hyung wasn't just chasing you around ten seconds ago." Jeongin scoffed making his friend laugh.

"Speaking of Minho, I better walk with him before he gets all pouty." He slid off of Jeongin's back and grabbed Minho's hand.

"Are you still out to get me?" Jisung smiled.

"Oh definitely. Sleep with one eye open tonight."

"Pfft. Good luck getting through my gate."

"Oh did I not tell you?"

Jisung looked at Minho confused, "Tell me what?"

"You're sleeping here tonight." Minho said.

Jisung raised his eyebrows, "No you did not. I didn't bring clothes."

"Oh, I must've forgot to mention that. Oh well, guess you're just gonna have to wear my clothes." Minho winked at his boyfriend.

Jisung's mouth dropped open. "You sneaky little bitch. You didn't tell me just so I wouldn't bring extra clothes and would have to wear yours instead."

"I'm not confirming nor denying your theory." Minho smiled dumbly.

"If you really wanted me to wear your clothes, you could've just said so." Jisung winked back at his boyfriend, making him smirk.

-

The boys spent hours in the basement, playing the Nintendo switch, talking, and watching a movie. Just spending time together with everyone felt complete and they all felt genuine happiness. They were having a great time and didn't even notice it was already ten at night. They decided to call it a day and everyone went to the floor they lived in. The second floor was Changbin's, the third floor was Yedam's, the fourth floor was Hyunjin's, the fifth floor was Minho's and the seventh floor was Woojin and Chan's.

They all said goodnight to each other and went to their designated floor. Chan and Woojin climbed into their elevator and waited until the elevator dinged, opening to the seventh floor. They walked to their shared bedroom.

No one owned the sixth floor because that used to be Woojin's, but since him and Chan were dating, he just gradually moved in with Chan onto his floor. They decided to turn the sixth floor into another hangout area for the boys cause they totally needed more. It also had spare bedrooms for when guests come over but that never happened.

"I feel like their dad." Chan chuckled.

"Yeah well I feel like their mom." Woojin said.

"It feels better with them though. More complete."

"Yeah they sort of bring out a side of us that we never really show."

"Do you think they're good for them?" Chan asked vaguely.

"I'm gonna guess you're talking about Yedam, Changbin, Hyunjin, and Minho and their boyfriends." Woojin sat on their bed, while Chan changed.

"Yeah I am."

"Well, I think Jeongin's good for Yedam because Jeongin's such an innocent little bean, but he's feisty sometimes. Let's also mention the fact that he's 's liked Yedam for a long ass time so at least we know he's loyal." Woojin said making Chan chuckle.

"Yeah I knew Jeongin was the right one for Yedam the moment I met him."

"Mmm, I think Seungmin is good for Hyunjin because his bluntness and sassiness is perfect for him, he keeps Hyunjin in check and helps with his ego."

Chan sat next to his love, "I think Felix is good for Changbin because he makes Changbin into this soft human being and you can tell that Felix really cares for him from the way he was hurt from all the rumors and stuff." Woojin nodded, agreeing.

"Jisung..." Chan started.

"What, you don't think he's the right one for Minho?" Woojin asked in shock.

"No it's not that. I think he's absolutely perfect for Minho. Have you seen how much happier and less violent Minho's become just because of him? I truly believe that Jisung has the power to help him bring down that wall he's built because of his past and I believe Jisung will help him get over that."

"Then what?" Woojin asked, a bit confused at why Chan hesitated after saying Jisung's name at first.

"I just really hope that Jisung won't leave him. I know he won't because he's as in love with Minho as much as Minho is in love with him, but I'm still a little worried because it could happen, it most likely won't, but it could."

"Why do you think Jisung will leave Minho?"

"Because Minho's past is... you know. What if Jisung views him differently? You know something can happen to Jisung and what if he just breaks up with Minho because of it?"

"You know that he won't." Woojin gently took Chan's hand and played with it because that calmed the leader down.

"I know, but do you know how crushed Minho will be? He'll go back to the way he was but worse and I don't think he'll ever get up from that." Chan looked down.

Woojin placed his hands on both of Chan's cheeks and lifted his head so his boyfriend could look up at him. He placed a gentle kiss on Chan's lips, pulling away after a few seconds. "I get that you're worried, but I genuinely don't think we have to worry about that. I know that there's a chance that it might happen but it's extremely small. Jisung would never break up with Minho, he's stronger than that. You're overthinking, stop it."

Chan stayed quiet, knowing that Woojin was correct.

"Chan do you remember when I came into this gang?"

"Yeah of course I do." Chan said. How could he forget? It was one of the best days of his life, the circumstances definitely weren't his favorite and he wished he could've met Woojin for different reasons, but nonetheless he was grateful that he ended up finding the love of his life.

"You found me on the streets, completely broken and a mess, but you took me in and comforted me without asking any questions. Eventually you got curious and hesitantly asked me why I was on the streets, but I wouldn't tell you anything about my past self for a long time, that I was abandoned by my entire family. I didn't want you to know because I thought you were going to abandon me too. My mindset was that if you found out that my own family didn't even want me and kicked me out, then you wouldn't want me either because I thought you would realize how worthless I was. I thought you were going to think less of me because of that."

"Your old family were pieces of shit. You are not worthless, you mean the whole universe to me and I would never think lesser of you." Chan said, holding Woojin's hand.

"Well I know that now, but back then I didn't. This is sort of the situation with Minho and Jisung. Sure Minho's past is... dark, but Jisung's not going to leave him because of that. He's not going to think differently of him, Jisung's stronger than that. I seriously think we have nothing to worry about." Woojin made a good point.

"Yeah you're right. We all just need to make sure nothing happens to Jisung or any of them."

-

"You should get a dog." Seungmin said to his boyfriend. They were currently laying in Hyunjin's bed. "Like a really cute puppy."

"I already have the cutest one in my arms right now." Hyunjin kissed Seungmin's head.

Seungmin felt the heat rise to his face. _That was smooth Hwang._

"Stop making me blush and get a dog."

Hyunjin chuckled, "Why don't you get a dog?"

"Because my brother's allergic." Seungmin pouted.

"Speaking of your family, when am I going to meet them?" Hyunjin changed the topic.

"When you get a dog." Seungmin mumbled causing Hyunjin to roll his eyes. "You can meet them whenever you want."

"Soon would be nice. Should I be scared?"

"No, I already told my family about you and they seem to like you from what they know."

"Oh that's refreshing to hear." Hyunjin smiled.

"Uh..." Seungmin hesitated, not knowing if he should ask Hyunjin what he was thinking about. He didn't want to force it out of him.

"What're you thinking about baby?" Hyunjin asked sweetly.

"Hm? Nothing, it's nothing... Um, so about that dog..." Seungmin tried to change the subject but Hyunjin wasn't falling for it.

"No, no, no. What were you about to ask?"

"It's honestly nothing important."

"Everything you say is important. Now say it."

Seungmin looked up at Hyunjin who gave him a look of encouragement, the boy looked back down. "...I was just wondering about your, um, family." Seungmin said quietly.

Hyunjin froze for just a split second, but immediately relaxed afterwards. He knew this question was going to come and he knew that he was going to have the explain to Seungmin at some point. It wasn't a big deal for Hyunjin, he was open and ready to tell his boyfriend. The gang member was actually planning on doing it he just forgot.

Hyunjin sat up causing Seungmin to sit up also. They sat facing each other. "I think it's time to tell you how I got into Stray Kids." Hyunjin said.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Seungmin said quickly.

"I want to though. It's not that much of a big deal or anything that's _that_ personal to me." Hyunjin told his boyfriend.

"Okay." Seungmin said quietly.

Hyunjin hesitated, thinking about where to start the story. "I'm an only child and I was an accident. Well, I don't know that for sure but it was pretty obvious that I wasn't planned. My parents, if I could even call them that, were very greedy. They hated the fact that they had to spend their money on someone other than themselves. So, they never bought me anything that I didn't need for survival. They only bought things I absolutely needed. No toys, no books, and I wasn't allowed to touch the tv, so no forms of entertainment. Growing up, my parents only fed me dinner and what they gave me wasn't much. They would give me the leftovers of their food since making extra food for me was a waste. So I was a very small and scrawny child. They bought me one singular outfit and I had to wear that outfit everyday until I grew out of it. Then they would buy me another outfit, only after complaining about how much money they always spent on me."

Hyunjin laughed a little, "Which was definitely not true and ironic. Everyday they would tell me how much I ruined their life, how much I waste their money, how much better their life was before I was came along. They made me sleep in the attic where there was no heaters, no air conditioning, and I had to stay up there all the time. I was able to leave only at dinner time. Then after dinner I had to go back up in my room. They let me go to the bathroom once a day. I showered once a week because of the water bill. I didn't have lights in my room because of the electricity bill so I had candles. I had a blanket to sleep on and another thin blanket to sleep with, that did not do any justice in the winter. I'm honestly surprised I didn't die."

Hyunjin paused and Seungmin reached over and held one of Hyunjin's hands. The boy continued, "All the kids at school made fun of me and bullied me for what I didn't have and how much I smelled. I lived like that for nine years, thinking I was a burden, like it was my fault for my parents' miserable life. Until I just couldn't take it. I ran away and just kept running. I don't even know if my parents even noticed that I ran away, if they did then I know they were grateful that I left." Seungmin frowned.

"It was late at night and I didn't know what to do or where I was going since I was kept locked up in my room or at school. I roamed around the streets until I found myself in the sketchy part of the city. I was terrified but I knew being there was better than being with my parents. I sat down on the sidewalk and just cried for what seemed like hours. Until a man walked up to me and asked me what I was doing in the streets alone. I was scared and didn't say anything until the man asked where my home was, so he could take me back home, and I started begging him not to take me home. I'm pretty sure he got the gist that my parents were the problem and he took me to his house. Which thinking about it now, that wasn't very smart of me to go home with a stranger, but I didn't know any better, my parents definitely didn't teach me stranger danger. But that was also the best decision I ever made. Turns out the man who took me home was Chan hyung's dad, and he took me to his home, where I met Chan hyung, Changbin and Yedam and they were so welcoming. They never asked where I came from or tried to make me feel bad, they acted like I wasn't different and I was definitely not used to being around nice people. It felt great and we became best friends immediately. I know that Chan hyung's dad took me in because he saw me as another potential member for his gang in the future who he can train or whatever, but after he saw how close I was getting with his children, he and his wife took me in as one of their own, which was something I never had, caring parents and love. So, if you're wondering when you'll meet my family, you already have." Hyunjin smiled.

"I'm so sorry you had to live like that for nine years." Seungmin said with his head down.

Hyunjin frowned, placing him hand on the other's chin, lifting it up so they can look at each other, "Why are you apologizing. It's not your fault that my parents were selfish."

"Yeah but I used to judge you for being selfish, I thought that you lived a happy life and never knew what pain felt. I feel guilty because I didn't know you started life like that, I was so quick to judge you." Seungmin closed his eyes, the guilt started to eat at him.

"Stop it, you didn't know, you only saw what I chose to display at school and I don't blame you for judging me like that. You're not the only one who thought of me like that, so don't be so hard on yourself. I didn't tell you this because I wanted you to feel guilty, I told you this because that was the only secret I was keeping from you and I don't like keeping secrets from you, I want you to know who I really am and that starts with telling you my past."

Seungmin stared at Hyunjin. His heart melted and he could feel tears forming in his eyes. _Is this love?_

He reached out and wrapped his arms around Hyunjin's neck. The gang member immediately wrapped his arms around his waist, chuckling.

"I don't deserve you." Seungmin mumbled.

"I should be saying that to you." Hyunjin whispered back.

Seungmin pulled away enough to look at his boyfriend's face. His eyes traveled down to Hyunjin's lips and back at his eyes. The gang member's eyes were looking at Seungmin's lips. The brown haired boy couldn't hold back anymore and smashed his lips on the taller's, feeling that burst of electricity from all the other times he's kissed his boyfriend. Hyunjin immediately kissed back and pulled Seungmin onto his lap and he straddled Hyunjin's waist. Their lips melted into each other and moved in sync.

Hyunjin licked Seungmin's bottom lip and the boy slightly opened his mouth. Their tongues clashed in the middle. Seungmin knew Hyunjin would win but he just didn't want to give it to him that easily. After a moment, Seungmin gave up and let Hyunjin explore his mouth, moaning softly against his lips. He moved his hands from Hyunjin's neck and tangled his hands in the boy's hair, pulling it every so often earning a moan from his boyfriend. Hyunjin's hands roamed all around Seungmin's body.

The taller boy bit Seungmin's lip as he pulled away, only to latch his lips on his neck. Hyunjin kissed and licked everywhere he could making the other breath heavily. Hyunjin started softly nipping at his neck and waited until he found the perfect spot. When Seungmin whimpered, he knew he hit the jackpot. Hyunjin started sucking on the spot.

"W-wait—ah. Don't l-leave—ah—a m-mark." Seungmin stuttered to say.

Hyunjin smirked against his neck and continued to suck his boyfriend's neck.

-

"I can sleep on the couch if you want." Jeongin nervously rubbed his nape. They were sitting on the couch, in front of the fireplace, which was on.

Yedam raised an eyebrow at him. "You want to sleep on the couch, when my bed's big enough for the both of us?"

"I-I mean, I just, didn't know, if you, uh, you know-" Jeongin stuttered, as he felt Yedam's gaze on him. He quickly hid his face in his hands not wanting to face the other.

Yedam chuckled as he turned his body so he was facing Jeongin's body. Softly, he grabbed both of Jeongin's hands from his face, holding them in his hands. "If you don't want to sleep next to me then I'll take the couch and you can have my bed."

"I never said I didn't want to." Jeongin said quietly.

"Well then it's settled." Yedam said before kissing Jeongin quickly on the lips.

The latter rested his head on Yedam's chest. Yedam wrapped his arms around Jeongin's body, holding him close.

"I don't know if this is a touchy subject," Jeongin started to say, making Yedam confused. "And if it is then you don't have to answer," Jeongin paused again. Yedam felt his heartbeat quicken and he didn't know why he was so nervous because there was nothing that he wasn't willing to tell Jeongin about himself but it was still nerve wrecking for some reason.

"How come you aren't apart of Stray Kids?" Jeongin asked quietly. He didn't know if he was scared to ask or scared for his boyfriend's reaction.

Yedam stayed silent. Not because he didn't want to answer the question but because he was a little shocked, he certainly wasn't expecting Jeongin to ask this. But the silence freaked Jeongin out, he doubted that it was the right time to ask.

Jeongin opened his mouth to say something but Yedam beat him to it. "I was originally going to join the gang when I turned 16. That was the magic number. That was when Chan hyung joined the gang, when he was 16. I was actually really excited and I looked forward to it. My brother and my dad would always talk about how fun it would be for all three of us working together."

Jeongin lifted his head from Yedam's chest, looking at him with confused eyes. How was this supposed to answer his question.

Yedam looked at his boyfriend and caressed his cheek before continuing, "It was all planned and I was ready for it. Until one day, just after Chan hyung joined the gang and I was twelve, our old home was attacked by another gang. I didn't know what was happening, I woke up hearing gun shots and then Chan hyung and the others busted into my room, telling me to hurry up and get up. I barely even heard what he was yelling at me though, the noises from the gunshots filled my ears. I quickly got up from my bed and my brother dragged me and the rest of us to the secret hideout. It was this giant vault that was bulletproof. The walls of the vault were so thick, once you were inside with the door locked, it was like it was soundproof. We all got inside and Chan hyung closed the door. I was screaming at him, asking him, 'what about mom and dad? We can't just leave them' but apparently my dad specifically told Chan hyung that if we were ever under attack, to take the kids to the vault and to not wait for them. I didn't realize why they would want us to just leave them until later. We were in the vault for what felt like weeks, but it was only a day or so. No one ever tried to break in which was weird. Finally when Chan hyung thought it was okay to open the vault, we walked out and it wasn't messy or anything, until we kept walking. There was bullet holes everywhere, but it didn't seem like the attackers took anything. We kept walking until Chan hyung abruptly stopped. He let out a cry and dropped to his knees, I was right behind him and when he fell, I saw what he was looking at."

Yedam stopped talking and looked down. "It was my mom lying on the floor, a bullet hole right through her heart. A couple feet away from her, was my dad and he had the same destiny as my mom. I don't remember anything that happened after that. My eyesight was blurry from the amount of tears that were flowing out my eyes and my hearing went mute. I'm pretty sure I blacked out because the next thing I remember was waking up in an unknown room. I soon found out we were in my dad's best friend's house, he too was in the gang. The next few days were a blur, I just remember everyone in the gang, mourning the death of my parents, and the funeral we held for them. Later we found out that the attackers, were another gang and their mission was to kill my parents, after they succeeded, they left. Which then made me realize the reason my dad told Chan hyung to not wait for them if under attack, was because he knew that if we ever were under attack, it was going to be another gang and he knew that their purpose would be to kill him and my mom. So they didn't want to be in the vault with us because the other gang would find a way to open that vault and if they saw all of us huddled together then we all would be dead too. Chan hyung became the leader for the gang at age 16, with the help from my dad's best friend. I promised myself that I would never be apart of the gang because it killed my parents. But I did train with everyone, only for one reason, so I could be prepared when we get revenge on the people who killed my parents. About a later, the gang finally found the people who killed my parents and we hunted out and returned the favor. After that I never trained again and I wish Chan hyung would stop with the gang but I know that my dad wanted him to take over. Being in Stray Kids was the reason for my parents' death and I don't want the same fate happen to Chan hyung of anyone else. That's why I'm not in the gang, because my parents were killed because of it."

Jeongin looked at Yedam with his jaw slightly dropped. He looked like he was about to cry. Yedam saw and immediately engulfed Jeongin into a hug.

"Don't cry please. You shouldn't cry, I'm okay."

"I-is that why Chan hyung has all those guards and all that security and why you live in the middle of nowhere?" Jeongin sniffed when they pulled away from the hug.

Yedam slightly chuckled at the 'middle of nowhere' statement, "Yeah, after that, my brother built a house in a place that was hard to find and was very guarded."

"Oh my god I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, if I knew it was that serious I wouldn't have asked." Jeongin looked down.

"Jeongin look at me." The boy slowly raised his head. "I told you because I wanted to, you were going to find out at some point. Don't apologize like it was your fault. I don't want you to feel burdened when you shouldn't. Don't dwell on it okay? I'm fine and I've had time to heal, I don't want you to be sad." Yedam said softly.

Jeongin nodded his head slowly resting his head on Yedam's chest. "How about we go to sleep?" Yedam said while he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend.

"Yeah that sounds nice." Jeongin said against his chest.

-

"You know-"

"No I don't know." Changbin cut Felix off, earning himself a whack on the head with a pillow from his boyfriend. "Ow! I was just kidding." He rubbed the side of his head that got hit.

"It's a pillow. How does that hurt?" Felix raised his eyebrow at his dramatic partner.

"It hurts more than you think." Changbin pouted.

Felix knew what Changbin was doing and he knew what the boy wanted, so he leaned in and kissed his boyfriend's pout, letting the kiss linger for a bit. Changbin smiled into the kiss, his plan working. He placed his hands on Felix's nape, pulling him deeper into the kiss. Their lips moved perfectly with each other.

Felix was the first to pull away and Changbin was smiling like an idiot. "You know if you want to kiss me so badly, you could just ask or, I don't know, just do it."

Changbin was given the chance and took it, he pecked Felix's lips, taking the other by surprise. "I know, but I like when you kiss me first." Changbin winked causing Felix to go red.

He slightly pushed Changbin and lied down on the bed he was sitting on. The gang member chuckled at his boyfriend's flustered reaction, soon lying in his bed too.

"I don't understand how someone as soft as you, is in a gang like Stray Kids." Felix snorted.

"Hey! I'm not soft." The boy took full offense.

"Mhm yeah, whatever you say babe." Felix patted Changbin's chest. "It's okay because you can also be really intimidating, I guess."

Changbin stared at his boyfriend and scoffed making Felix giggle. He playfully rolled his eyes and started to play with his boyfriend's purple hair. The boy snuggled into Changbin's chest.

"...Can I ask you a question?" Felix asked hesitantly.

"Of course." Changbin said softly.

Was it the right time to ask? Maybe he should wait a little longer. Felix debated with himself until he just decided to go for it. "How'd you join Stray Kids?"

Felix heard the gang member suck in his breath. He panicked and looked up at Changbin. The last time Felix asked this question, his boyfriend gave him sort of a vague answer.

"Do you remember the first time we hung out, at the beach, I told you that I was fighting in the streets when Chan hyung found me and took me to his dad where he asked if I wanted to be in the gang?" Felix nodded his head, "I sorta lied. That's not how I joined the gang at all."

Felix opened his eyes wide, but he honestly wasn't surprised Changbin lied to him. They had just met and Felix asked a personal question so it would make sense for Changbin not to tell a stranger, his personal life.

"My parents were actually apart of Stray Kids too. They were really good friends with Chan hyung's parents, so me and Chan hyung have been best friends for as long as I can remember. I always went over to his house whenever the gang had some kind of mission and I spent a lot of time with him and Yedam. I always knew I was going to join the gang when I got older, take after my parents." He paused.

Felix still had many questions. Why doesn't he live with his parents? How come he never talks about them? Are they still in the gang?

Changbin continued, "When I was seven, my parents dropped me off at Chan hyung's house like usual and left for a mission, but this time, they never came back. I didn't know what was about to hit me, I played with Chan hyung and Yedam happily. Then it got late and their parents nor my parents were back yet. I didn't think much of it at the time. Soon Chan hyung's parents came home with red swollen eyes. They sat me down and gently told me that my parents were gone, they were killed in the mission. It felt like I couldn't breathe, like my lungs were ripped out of my chest, along with my heart. I cried until I fell asleep, Chan hyung's mom hugged me and patted me, trying to soothe me. Their parents decided to take me in and care for me. I promised myself that I would join the gang to not only get revenge on the people who killed my parents but also because I knew my parents wanted me to join the gang. A year after I joined, I found the people who killed my parents and got revenge. It's kinda twisted in a way but welcome to my life."

Felix kissed Changbin's chest, he opened his mouth but before he could say anything, Changbin said, "Don't say you're sorry. It's not your fault so you don't need to apologize or else I'll feel bad. Don't worry about me because I'm okay."

Felix quickly closed his mouth.

_How the hell did he know I was going to say sorry?_

"I am not sorry then." Felix said awkwardly, making Changbin laugh. He hugged the boy tighter saying, "You're adorable." He kissed the top of Felix's head.

"I'm just glad you're doing okay. That's what I care about the most." Felix said snuggled more into Changbin's embrace.

"As long as you're with me, I'll always be more than okay." Changbin smiled into Felix's hair.

-

"Here." Minho tossed Jisung some sweatpants and a shirt. "You can wear that."

Jisung caught the clothes, "Thanks. Where's your bathroom." Minho pointed to a door. He went inside and got changed. Minho's clothes were a little baggier for his small figure. Jisung went out of the bathroom and saw his boyfriend with no shirt and only sweats, almost causing him to hyperventilate. Minho had a nice body, it was nicely toned and Jisung was tempted to run his hands along it.

Minho turned his head to Jisung when he heard the bathroom door open and saw the other boy checking him out. "You wanna take a picture? It'll last longer." He smirked.

Jisung snapped back to reality and immediately felt his cheeks heat up. "Shut up." He muttered, making Minho chuckle.

"You look cute." Minho smiled.

"It's because I'm wearing your clothes which engulfs me." Jisung said.

"You should wear my clothes more often." He smirked.

Jisung sat on Minho's bed rolling his eyes. "You should wear your own clothes too." Jisung pointed to the boy's bare chest.

"Why? You don't like it?" Minho walked closer to his boyfriend.

"I never said that."

"Then why should I put a shirt on?" Minho stood in front of Jisung, leaning down to him. His face was so close to Jisung's that the boy forgot how to breathe.

"It's just that, we're going to sleep. Don't you get cold?" Jisung came up with a dumb excuse but he honestly was more focused on trying to keep his voice stable. He just wanted Minho to stop teasing him and kiss him already.

Minho shook his head, "I usually don't wear anything when I go to sleep, but I thought that since you're here, I would wear some pants at least. Which would you prefer?" His face was an inch away from Jisung's. He could feel Minho's breath on his face.

Jisung couldn't take it anymore, instead of answering, he placed his hand on the back of Minho's neck, crashing his lips into Minho's and the boy immediately kissed back. The kiss was hungry and desperate. Almost as if they hadn't kissed in months which wasn't the case. Minho pushed Jisung back onto the bed, climbing on top of him. Jisung pulled his boyfriend closer to him, trying to get rid of any space. Minho deepened the kiss, keeping a hand next to Jisung's head to hold himself up, while the other found its way under the shirt Jisung was wearing.

The gang member slipped his tongue past Jisung's mouth and explored every inch of his mouth. Jisung let out a small moan as fireworks exploded all throughout his body. He moved his hands down Minho's bare chest, tracing his fingers along the boy's abs just like how he wanted to do it.

Jisung pulled away from the kiss to get a breath of air but Minho continued to kiss Jisung down to his neck. He kissed a certain spot that made Jisung gasp, Minho smirked and gently sucked on that spot. Jisung bit his already swollen lip to keep himself quiet as his boyfriend continued to bruise his neck. Soon he couldn't take it and let out a moan making Minho smile in satisfaction. The gang member reconnected their lips in a deep kiss.

Suddenly Jisung's phone started going off. The boy pulled away from Minho, groaning. He was about to punch the person who decided to call him at this time. Minho chuckled as he got off of Jisung and the latter sat up, reaching for his phone. He checked the caller ID and it was his brother. He rolled his eyes and answered the phone.

"What."

"Damn boy that's no way to talk to your older brother like that."

"Why'd you call at-" Jisung pulled the phone away from his ear and checked the time, "-10:30 P.M.?"

"Because I was wondering where you're at and when you're coming home." His brother asked.

Jisung mentally slapped his own forehead, he forgot to tell his siblings that he was staying at Minho's. "I'm coming home tomorrow."

"Ohhh." Jisung could hear the smirk on Brian's face. "So you're sleeping at Minho's house?"

"He's what now?" It was his sister.

"Yes, yes I am. Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I forgot."

"What were you doing that made you forget? Are you guys sleeping in the same bed?" His sister gasped.

"Oh my god, don't even think like that. We weren't even-" Jisung looked up at Minho who had an amused look on his face.

"Yeah yeah I'm just teasing. Next time don't forget to tell us, okay?"

"Don't worry I won't."

"Okay have fun but not too much, and if you do, use protection." His brother said, soon followed by an "Ow." Probably from Jihyo slapping his arm.

"I'm hanging up now! Bye!" Jisung quickly hung up the phone.

Minho busted out laughing. Jisung looked at his boyfriend completely mortified, "Please don't tell me you heard that whole conversation."

"You bet I did."

Jisung covered his face in his hands. "Why is my life so embarrassing."

Minho tackled Jisung with a hug, "I love your siblings."

"Don't. I don't want to talk about that conversation." Jisung groaned.

Minho laughed, "Fine. Come on let's go to sleep."

-

The next morning, everyone sat down at the table for breakfast. Jisung was enjoying his breakfast, in front of his boyfriend and in between Seungmin and Jeongin, when all of a sudden Felix gasped really loud. Everyone, including Jisung, turned to the boy with confusion written on his face.

Felix looked back and forth between Jisung and Seungmin with wide eyes, he pointed to both their necks, "Are those hickeys!?" He yelled, making everyone stare at Jisung's and Seungmin's necks.

Jisung froze and felt his face heat up. He immediately covered his neck with his hands and stared at his boyfriend who acted clueless, "You gave me a hickey?!"

Seungmin dropped his jaw and looked right at his boyfriend who gave him an innocent smile.

The pair quickly got up from the table and walked to the nearest mirror. Jisung checked removed his hand from his neck and sure enough, there was a deep purple hickey on his neck. Seungmin gasped when he saw the purple mark that occupied his neck. His fair skin made the dark mark pop out even more so how did he not see it before?

"Seems like you guys had a lot of fun last night." Felix teased and Jisung groaned as Seungmin glared at the boy.

Jisung marched back to the table and everyone was looking at the mark Minho left on his neck. He slapped Minho's shoulder, "Why didn't you tell me that was there."

"I think it looks nice." Minho said smiling.

Seungmin stomped over to his boyfriend which earned everyone's stare on his neck now. He glared at Hyunjin, "I told you not to leave a hickey."

"I know, I'm sorry, but couldn't help it. You weren't complaining when I was doing it either." Hyunjin smirked. His last comment made everyone chuckle. Seungmin's face went bright red as he hid his face in the crook of his boyfriend's neck. Hyunjin wrapped his arms around the flustered boy, smiling.

"Damn, I didn't know you guys were like that." Chan teased.

"Don't act like you've never left some on Woojin hyung's neck and vice versa." Hyunjin teased back, making Woojin choke on his drink.

Chan narrowed his eyes. "Touché."

"You guys must've had fun last night." Changbin teased.

"I'm glad we don't live on the same floor." Yedam joined in the teasing.

"Please tell me you guys didn't actually..." Felix asked.

Jisung and Seungmin gasped, "Felix who do you think I am?" Jisung asked.

"No we didn't!" Seungmin lifted his head and answered.

"Hey it's a harmless question." He held up his hands, laughing.

"Damn hyung you're wild." Yedam said to Hyunjin and Minho teasingly.

Jeongin walked up to Jisung and examined his neck before he walked over to Seungmin and doing the same thing, "You both are wild." He gasped.

Of course everything that the other six people were saying, were all jokes just to tease the two couples. They honestly didn't think it was a big deal but they made it a big deal because that's what made it fun and that's what friends do.

Jisung groaned and covered his red face. He got shy and hid in Minho. The gang member chuckled and hugged his embarrassed boyfriend. "No Felix, we didn't do that either." He cleared the air.

"Oh thank the lord." Felix gasped dramatically, causing everyone to laugh.

Jisung lifted his head and stared at Minho, "I can't believe you gave me a hickey."

"Hey you didn't stop me." Minho smirked.

"I can't believe you both have a hickey." Jeongin said, directing it to Jisung and Seungmin.

"I'm surprised Felix doesn't have one." Woojin said casually.

Felix widened his eyes and felt his cheeks get hot. Changbin chuckled at his boyfriend's reaction and pulled him into a hug. "Maybe next time." Changbin joked which earned himself a hit from Felix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is so incredibly long oh my
> 
> you found out everyone's backstory except for minho's but you'll find out his backstory soon, like really soon... *wink* *wink* :) but i hope that minsung action can make up for the time being.
> 
> ik i said i was gonna update on tuesday but you guys wanted it sooner and i wanted to post it sooner too hehe
> 
> which story backstory surprised you the most?
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- followed  
\- envelope  
\- finally
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	33. t h i r t y t w o .

Jisung was sitting on his couch, waiting for Felix to ring his doorbell, when his sister came downstairs and sat next to him.

"Where are you going?"

Jisung looked up from his phone, "Felix, Seungmin, Jeongin and I are going to walk around Seoul."

"Oh can you get me some makeup? I'm running out."

The boy narrowed his eyes at his sister, "I don't even know the basics of makeup, how do you expect me to buy you what you need?"

Jihyo rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, it's not that hard. I'll send you pictures of what to buy and I'll tell you what they're called. Or you can just go up to the worker and show them the pictures I sent you and ask for them."

Jisung groaned, "Fine."

"Thanks! I'll pay you back."

"Yeah you better."

The doorbell rang, surprising Jisung as he jumped. His sister started bursting out laughing. "You should've seen her face. Oh my god." She wheezed.

The younger just rolled his eyes, "Shut up." He mumbled as he walked toward the door, opening it to reveal a happy Felix.

"Oh hey Jisung." His friend greeted him.

"Let's go." Jisung closed the door behind him, not wanting to hear his sister laughing at him any longer.

"I hate you." Jisung mumbled to Felix as they walked.

The taller boy raised his eyebrows at his friend. "I did absolutely nothing but ring your doorbell and say hi."

"Exactly, you fucking scared me." Jisung said making Felix burst out laughing.

"Dumbass." Felix said and Jisung slightly pushed the other male.

When Felix and Jisung met up with their other two friends, it was four o'clock. They walked to the streets of Seoul with all the food and stores. It wasn't a long walk since they all lived near it.

"Where to?" Seungmin asked.

"I have to buy Jihyo noona some makeup so can we do that first?"

"You're gonna buy her makeup? Do you even know what to get?" Jeongin questioned.

"Uhh, kinda? She sent me pictures and stuff so it shouldn't be that hard to find." Jisung shrugged, taking his phone out to see the pictures.

They all gathered around Jisung's phone, looking at the pictures too.

"Oh! I know where this brand is." Felix started walking and the rest just followed.

"Huh? How do you know?" Seungmin asked.

"My sister uses that brand too and sometimes she asks me to go and buy some things for her."

"Oh thank the lord. I won't look like a complete idiot walking around the store like a lost dog, not knowing where to find the makeup items." Jisung relaxed.

"I hope you know your sister's shade and shit because I can't help you there."

"I mean she should be the same as me. She used her concealer on me once and it looked fine."

They walked into the makeup store and it was filled with makeup items that Jisung didn't know of. He really didn't know where to start.

"Okay so I saw that your sister uses the same cushion pack as my sister and that's over here." Felix led them over to the back of the store. He pointed to the item. "Just pick the right shade."

"Uhhh." Jisung took his phone out and checked the text messages again, praying that his sister sent him the shade she uses too. In his luck, his sister had sent them. Jisung picked out the correct one.

"Okay one done, many more to go." Jeongin said.

They walked around the store, picking out the items that Jihyo needed and by the time Jisung's hands were full, they were done and ready to check out.

"Who the hell needs this much makeup? My sister already has so much. Drawers full of them." Jisung thought out loud making everyone laugh.

While waiting in line, Jisung got this weird feeling in his gut. He looked around the store but everyone seemed to be minding their own business, looking at makeup. He shook the feeling away and walked up to the checkout lady.

The lady scanned all the items and grabbed a handful of samples, putting them in the bag also. When Jisung saw the price, his soul almost left his body. Seungmin and Jeongin gaped at the price too as Felix just snorted. As Jisung swiped his card, he felt a part of his heart cry. He thanked the lady and grabbed the bag, walking out the door.

"I cannot _believe _I spent that much money." Jisung peeped.

"I didn't know makeup was _that_ expensive." Jeongin said surprised.

"Geez, your sister is crazy." Seungmin said to Jisung.

Felix rolled his eyes as his dramatic friends. "Yeah yeah, I'm hungry now, let's go get something to eat."

They all agreed to find something to eat and started walking further into the streets. They found some street food that looked really good and stood in line to get it. While standing in line, Jisung felt that weird feeling in his gut again. Almost like someone was staring at him. He quickly turned around but he saw no one again. Everyone was minding their own business, laughing and having fun. Jisung looked at his friends, wondering if they felt the same thing but they all looked fine.

Jisung furrowed his eyebrows._I think I'm going crazy._

After getting their food, they decided to walk around and enjoy the entertainment.

"Let's go look at that performance." Jeongin suggested, pointing at a crowd of people. They all complied.

It was a group of teenagers performing a Kpop song. They weren't bad, actually they were extremely good. "You should go and join them." Jisung nudged Felix jokingly.

The boy scoffed, "Yeah right. I don't know anything about dancing."

"I think you'll be great." Seungmin teased, placing an arm on Felix's shoulder.

"Yeah okay." Felix rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you go and join them Jisung hyung?" Jeongin said as a joke.

"Not with my clumsy ass." He snorted.

"I don't understand how they have time to learn all those dance moves." Felix wondered out loud.

"Well not everyone studies as hard as we do." Seungmin stayed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Jisung suddenly turned around again. He swore on his life that he felt someone's gaze on him, but for the third time, there was no one there.

"Jisung you good?" Seungmin asked.

"Yeah you've been looking around a lot." Felix added.

"Who are you looking for hyung?"

Jisung turned back to his friends and was met with confused eyes. "I think I'm hallucinating."

"What do you mean?"

"I feel like someone's watching me or something but whenever I turn around, there's no one there." Poor Jisung looked distressed.

"Maybe we should leave?" Felix suggested.

"No I don't wanna ruin the fun just because I'm going insane. I'm okay."

"You should tell Minho." Seungmin said.

"No it's not anything serious. If you guys don't feel anyone watching then it just further proves that I'm just overreacting and that it's nothing at all. I don't want him to get worried over nothing."

"Fine but if you feel like someone's watching you again then we're leaving right away and you're telling Minho." Seungmin ordered and Jisung nodded.

The four friends decided to go shopping next. Luckily, Jisung didn't get that gut feeling again and he honestly forgot about it. By the time they were done, it was six o'clock and their feet were hurting from walking around. They walked back to Jisung's house.

When they walked to the living room, they were met with Jihyo and Brian's stare. "Oh you're back already?" Brian said as he continued to make food in the kitchen.

"Yeah, we're tired." Jisung replied as the four of them crashed on the couch.

"Did you get it." Jihyo asked.

"If you're referring to your expensive ass makeup, then yes, I got it."

Brian laughed from the kitchen, "You made Jisung get your makeup? Poor guy is probably broke now."

"Hey! I'm paying him back. You guys are overreacting."

"Overreacting?" Brian, Jisung, and his friends all said.

Jihyo rolled her eyes. "I need a girl around here."

"You love us." Everyone said again.

"Debatable." She mumbled.

"Foods done!" Brian shouted which made Jisung, Seungmin, Felix and Jeongin shoot up from the couch.

They all sat at the table and waited for Brian to serve them their plates before they dug in.

"So, are you three dating anyone too?" Jihyo asked casually.

Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin choked on their food while Jisung snorted, looking forward to this conversation.

"Um yeah we are." Seungmin said shyly, speaking for all three of them.

"All of you guys?" Jihyo gasped.

"Yeah." Felix looked at his food, embarrassed by this conversation.

"Aw that is so cute! Are they friends with Minho?"

"Yeah actually they're all really good friends with each other." Jeongin said.

"Oh then they must all be sweet like Minho. He's such a good kid isn't he? So respectful."

It was Jisung's turn to choke on his food and for his friends to silently snort.

"Yeah Minho's a really a good person." Jeongin agreed.

"He's really respectful towards other people and our teachers. It's not everyday, you meet someone like that." Seungmin added, Jisung could hear the sarcasm in his voice but of course his siblings wouldn't know.

"Yeah, our boyfriends are the type of people that parents would love for their child to be dating. Really good role models." Felix's sarcasm almost made the other three laugh out loud.

"Wow you guys really got lucky." Brian smiled, happy for them.

"Yeah, we really did." Jisung said genuinely, all jokes aside. He looking at his friends and they wore smiles on their faces too. The four boys truly felt blessed to be dating their boyfriends. Even though they joke around about their boyfriends not being the nicest because of they do with the gang, once you actually got to know them, they were the sweetest people and the four boys truly believed that they were the luckiest people alive to be dating them.

"What about you Brian hyung?" Jisung asked.

"What about me?"

"Are you interested in anyone?"

"So how are you guys liking the food?" Brian asked, changing the subject.

"Oh you like someone?" Jihyo said surprised.

"It's complicated." He said.

"Trust me we're familiar with complicated." Seungmin mumbled.

"What about you Jihyo?" Brain asked.

"I might have an eye on someone, but I don't have time for dating." She shrugged.

"Yeah okay." The oldest snorted.

-

After some time Jisung's friends left his house and the boy was sitting on the couch in his living room, watching some movie on the TV. A sound suddenly went off, scaring him. The sound came from the gate monitor thing, indicating that someone was buzzing in, asking for the gate to be opened.

Jisung looked around confused. He wasn't expecting anyone to come visit. He got up from the couch and walked over to the monitor, he checked the camera and there was no one there. No cars, no human being, it was empty.

_Huh, that's weird._

Jisung checked his phone for any text messages from anyone that would indicate that they were going to come over, but there wasn't any. He texted his siblings, asking if they were expecting anyone to come over but they both replied back with the same answer. No. He checked the time. _8:17 P.M._

The confused boy just shook it off and sat back down on the couch, thinking that it was just a prank or something. He continued to watch his movie when five minutes later, the sound went off again. Jisung ran to the monitor and checked the camera but no one was there again, making him even more confused.

_Two times is a coincidence._

Jisung hesitantly sat back down on the couch and prayed that it wouldn't go off again but of course the universe wasn't on his side and not even a minute later, it went off. When Jisung checked again, there was no one there.

Jisung didn't know what to do because obviously there was someone there, but he didn't want to open the gate for them because he doesn't know who's out there. Then again, he got a feeling that the person wasn't going to stop buzzing.

After some time, Jisung just decided to go outside and check for himself. If there was anyone there then he could just run back inside without getting hurt, he just really needed to check what or who was hitting the button. He quickly slipped on some slides and opened his front door. He couldn't see anyone outside so he kept walking towards the gate cautiously.

When he arrived at the front of the gate, he saw no one there. He looked around and saw absolutely no one. A white blur caught in the corner of his eye, caught his attention. He looked down and there was an envelope on the floor, right in front of the gate. The mailman didn't come at this time and even if he did, he never rang the gate, he just placed the mail in the mailbox like a any other person would. Jisung picked up the envelope and turned it around. His full name was printed on the front in bold letters.

_What the hell is this?_

Jisung looked around one more time and when he saw no one, he quickly walked back inside his house with the envelope. He closed and locked the door, walking to his room. Jisung sat at his desk and stared at the white rectangle. He didn't know if he wanted to open it. But the curiosity was killing him and he decided to open the envelope.

When Jisung lifted the flap of the envelope, he saw the tops of what seemed like pictures and at the back, he could see a piece of paper, most likely a letter. Jisung reached in and took out all the contents in the envelope. He placed the letter on his desk and looked at the pictures. At first, he looked at the picture with confusion. It was a candid of the inside of a store. Jisung looked more closely at the photo and realized that it was a picture of him and his friends in the makeup store from earlier today. It was taken when Jisung was reaching for a lipstick and his friends were standing there looking at the other lipsticks the store had on display.

"What the fuck? Who took this?" Jisung whispered to himself.

He looked at the next picture, it was them waiting in line at the makeup store. The next picture was the four of them walking out of the store. There was another picture of the four of them standing in line to get food. The next one was of them watching the street performance.

Another was taken right at the moment Jisung turned around, looking for the person who was staring at him. That picture taunted Jisung. You can see the desperation and confusion displayed on his face while he looked for the person who was watching him, but not being able find them even when they were right there in plain sight. It made the boy feel like an absolute idiot.

The next picture was of the four of them walking to the clothing stores. The next few pictures were of Jisung and his friends looking at different clothing items. When Jisung saw the very last photo he felt his stomach fall, it was the four walking into Jisung's house. The boy dropped the pictures on his desk and looked around, he knew that there wasn't anyone there, but after looking at the pictures that Jisung's stalker took of him, he just felt unsafe and vulnerable.

Jisung looked at his desk and the letter was still sitting on his desk, unopened. He really didn't want to read the letter, scared of what it was going to say. Nonetheless he hesitantly reached for the piece of paper, his hand was shaking. He grabbed it and after a few seconds, he opened it, taking a big breath.

_Han Jisung, I was there with you in Seoul all day today, watching you. I noticed that you felt my gaze from the way that you turned around a few times, but you never saw me, I was even hiding in plain sight. Dating someone like Minho I would've thought you would be better at making smart choices to keep yourself safe, but even when you thought someone was watching you, you ignored it and went on with your day. Not very smart of you but better for me. I could've easily knocked you and your friends out and took you four, especially with your boyfriend's not there with you, keeping you safe. They would never know what happened to you or where you four went, sending them into a state of panic and vulnerability. I would, from afar, enjoy every second of their suffering, but I decided not to take you yet because it's too soon. But trust me, one of these days when you are out, you and whoever you're hanging out with won't be lucky enough to walk away like you did today, even if you're out with your boyfriend. That's a promise. I'm always watching your every move even when you don't sense me there._   
_-WPQO_

Jisung's heart speed up and he felt his hands start to sweat. The fear inside him was spreading through every vein that ran through his body. He felt like crying because he felt so exposed and so helpless. He felt unsafe in his own home. Jisung quickly took his phone out with his shaking hand and called the only the person he felt safe with.

"Babe? What's up?" Minho said once he answered the phone.

Jisung was extremely grateful that his boyfriend picked up the phone. "C-can you please come over right now." His voice was shaky and Minho definitely heard it.

"Jisung is everything okay? What's wrong?" The worry in his voice was very noticeable.

"Minho _please_." Jisung's voice gave out at the end.

"Okay, I'll be there in five." Minho said before hanging up.

Jisung very cautiously walked downstairs, scared that someone was inside his house or something. He turned on every light he could and waited downstairs. The movie he was watching was still playing as he never turned the tv off.

A few minutes later, the gate monitor went off giving him deja vu from twenty minutes ago and he felt his heart rate quicken. Jisung walked over to it and saw Minho's car in the camera. He quickly buzzed his boyfriend in and waited for him to knock on the door. When doorbell went off Jisung ran to the door, looking through the peephole, checking if it was his boyfriend first just in case. When he confirmed that it was Minho, he swung the door open and threw himself at his boyfriend. Minho was taken aback but quickly hugged Jisung back.

"Baby what's wrong?" Minho asked softly. Jisung didn't answer, he didn't know where to start and honestly he didn't want to talk about it. He just wanted to forget about it but he knew he couldn't.

"Jisung talk to me, _please_." The gang member begged.

Jisung pulled away and quietly said, "Okay." Before pulling Minho into his house, closing and locking the door behind him.

Minho looked at his boyfriend, waiting for him to explain everything. Jisung dragged Minho up the stairs and stopped in front of his bedroom. He turned around and faced the taller male.

"You know how I walked around Seoul with Felix, Seungmin, and Jeongin today?" Jisung asked and Minho nodded.

The scared boy continued, "Well when we were there I felt like there was someone staring at me and watching me but whenever I looked around, there was no one there, so I just thought I was going insane and I ignored it. Until twenty minutes ago someone kept buzzing my gate, but there was no one in the camera. Eventually I got annoyed and went outside to check it out, but there was no one there. There was only an envelope on the floor. I picked it up and it had my name on it. I took it inside and in the envelope was a letter and photos. The pictures were of me and my friends in Seoul. There was actually someone there, watching and stalking me the whole time and I'm scared. His letter threatened me even more."

Minho knew this was going to happen but he prayed that he would be wrong. When he heard his boyfriend explain everything, he was definitely not happy with what was said. His jaw was clenched and he was trying really hard not to punch a wall. He saw his boyfriend's expression and immediately hugged the boy, trying to comfort him. Jisung instantly leaned into the hug.

"Where's the envelope." Minho tried to say softly but there was an underline of anger.

Jisung slowly pulled his boyfriend into his bedroom and guided him to his desk. "It's right there." He said, pointed to it.

Minho looked over the pictures and wanted to rip every single one of them and burn it. He was livid. Who dared to invade Jisung and his friends' privacy? He picked up the letter and read it. As he further read the letter, the more his hands formed into fists with the paper still in his hand, crinkling it.

When Minho was done reading the letter, it took everything in him to not break something. He was absolutely furious since he knew exactly who wrote the letter. He turned to Jisung, "You're sleeping at my house tonight."

"B-but, what if he follows us or something." Jisung said worried.

"Trust me he won't follow us." Minho replied.

"But my siblings what-"

"He won't do anything to them, trust me."

After a few seconds, Jisung nodded. "Okay I'll come with you, let me just tell my brother."

Jisung walked to his brother's room and opened the door, "Hey hyung?"

"What?"

"I'm gonna sleep over at Minho's house tonight."

"Huh why?" His brother asked.

"Because he wants to watch a movie." Jisung gave a lame excuse.

"Okay but behave yourselves." Brian said half jokingly.

"Yeah yeah." Jisung rolled his eyes.

He quickly walked back to his room and Minho was texting someone on his phone. Probably telling Chan that he was bringing Jisung over.

"Okay let's go." Jisung said.

The two drove to Minho's house. Of course at the first gate, two guys walked out and after that, Minho had to scan his eye and finger. Finally arriving to his house, Minho quickly brought Jisung inside, dragging him to the elevator that took them to the fifth floor. After the elevator ride, they walked to Minho's room.

The shorter sat on the bed and Minho followed after him. "Jisung." He said after a silence.

"Yeah?"

"I know who sent that letter."

"Huh?... W-who?" Jisung gasped.

"It was Moonjin." Minho said.

_Moonjin? As in my science partner Moonjin? That makes no sense._

"Moonjin? It can't be him. Are you sure?" Minho nodded and Jisung continued asking questions. "Why would it be him? I feel like he would never do that to me. Why would he even want to watch and threaten me like that?" Nothing made sense. How was Minho so sure that someone like Moonjin would do this? Who _is _Moonjin?

The gang member sighed, "Jisung, I think it's time to tell you the truth, about everything. It's time to tell you about my past, how I got into the gang, where I got these scars around my wrist and ankles, and who Moonjin is."

Jisung was taken a back, he knew this day was going to come, but he felt like it was never going to happen and he couldn't believe that Minho was finally willing to share the time period of his life before he got into the gang.

"Minho if you aren't ready then you don't have to tell me, it's okay I can still wait."

"No I'm ready. Jisung, I love you so much. I don't want there to be any secrets between us anymore and that starts with me telling you about everything."

Jisung stopped breathing, he felt his heart start pounding against his chest. His jaw fell open slightly. Minho had just said that he loved Jisung.

"Y-you what." He whispered in shock.

"I love you." Minho said again, and would say it again and again forever. It felt amazing finally saying it out loud and he was never going to get tired of saying it.

Jisung felt tears forming around his eyes as he hugged his boyfriend, "I love you too."

Minho immediately hugged back. He knew Jisung loved him back but hearing him say it out loud made his heart skip a beat and he felt like all the problems in his life washed away for a second. "Now let me tell you the truth." Minho said softly.

Jisung pulled away, "I didn't know you also had scars on your ankles."

Minho lifted his sweats up a little, revealing his ankles that had the same fate as his wrists . One ankle looked a lot worse and a little different from the rest. Jisung gasped softly and touched them unconsciously.

The gang member took a breath, "I know you've been wondering where I got these from and what happened in my life before I joined the gang and how I know Moonjin... Actually, Moonjin's the one who gave me the scars on my wrist, but let me start from the beginning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how many of you saw that coming? (probs a lot lmao).
> 
> i'm really excited for the next chapter and i hope you are excited too because:
> 
> in the next chapter:  
-minho finally tells jisung about his childhood, how he got the scars around his wrist and ankles, and how he joined the gang
> 
> what do you think happened to minho before he joined the gang? and how you think moonjin gave him those scars?
> 
> hehe see you friday :)


	34. t h i r t y t h r e e .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !! this is where the warnings come in!! please if you are not comfortable with the warned topics that i mentioned in the intro chapter then please don't read the rest of the book because it will get uncomfortable/triggering very fast and i will not give another heads up !!

Minho enjoyed his life. He lived with his parents that loved him so much. He was an only child of course, but he had a lot of friends in his first grade class. It was a normal day and he was enjoying his time at school when he was called into the office. The boy walked into the office and he saw his father standing there, distressed and he looked like he had been crying. In all of his seven years, Minho had never seen his dad cry so obviously the child knew something was wrong. He ran to his dad, hugging him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Minho we have to go." His dad said softly.

"Where?"

"I'll explain in the car. Come on bud, let's go." His dad tried to act happy for his son's sake.

The little boy followed his dad to the car and sat in the back. His dad started the car and drove. Minho thought they were going back to his home but he was wrong.

"Minho, listen to me," His dad started saying, "We are going to the hospital."

"Why? Who's hurt?" Minho asked, not knowing what was about to hit him.

"Mom's not doing very good right now and we need to visit her."

"What do you mean mom's not doing good?" Minho being only seven, didn't know how serious the situation was or the concept behind a hospital. He only knew that people went to the hospital when they were hurt, so he thought his mom was in there because she got a minor scratch on her leg or something.

His dad didn't answer and they arrived at the hospital. Minho and his dad walked inside the hospital, into the room where his mom was being held at. When they walked inside, he expected to see his mom's smile and hear her say hi to him but instead he was greeted with his mom laying on the hospital bed with wires hooked up to her. He couldn't recognize her, her head was wrapped in white wrap and she had bruises and cuts all over her face and body. Her legs and arms were covered with casts. Minho saw his grandparents crying in the hospital chairs.

The little boy broke down and started crying, he was scared. He didn't know who that person laying in that hospital bed was, he couldn't recognize her face from how bruised it was, it couldn't be his mom.

"What happened to her?" He cried out loud.

"Minho listen to me." His dad took ahold of his shoulders. "Mom got into a car accident and the doctors don't know if she'll..." His dad couldn't finish his sentence as tears weld his eyes too.

Minho started crying even more. He wasn't a dumb child, he knew what that meant for his mom's sake. He must've cried himself to sleep because the next thing he remembered was waking up to commotion. His dad was calling out for doctors and his grandparents were by his mom's side, crying hysterically, yelling for help. There was a long beep sound that stood out to Minho, he looked at the monitor where the beep was coming from and saw a straight green line across the screen. He didn't know what that meant or what was going on. The doctors came rushing in and tried to help his mom but they couldn't do anything, it was too late. They called the time of death and that was something Minho would never forget. _2:33 P.M._

It didn't hit Minho that his mother was gone until the funeral. Until he saw his mom laying lifeless in the coffin. Until they placed the coffin into the hole that went many feet into the ground. He didn't cry at the funeral, but when his dad took him home after, he cried all night and eventually fell asleep from exhaustion.

He didn't go to school, he was too devastated. At first, he was glad that he had his dad at least, but that gratefulness didn't last very long. The widowed dad didn't know how to handle the death of his wife and the only way he found to cope with that sadness, was alcohol.

He didn't go to work for the first month since his boss understood his situation and let him take a break, but during that month of not going to work, Minho didn't go to school either. Everyday his dad was either sleeping or drinking alcohol. Minho didn't even recognize his father, the person he became from all the alcohol, was a completely different person and it scared the child. Before, he never yelled at Minho but now he was screaming at the little kid for every single thing he did. He would always find a reason to yell at the child even if it was over the smallest thing. It just made Minho want to hide in his room all day. Sadly, he couldn't even do that because his dad would yell at him, but if Minho was outside of his room for too long then he would get yelled at too. Everything the poor kid did, would result in him getting yelled at, he was never doing anything right in his father's eyes.

Minho couldn't take it anymore, he finally built the courage to run away from his dad. It was a Friday afternoon, his father was snoring on the living room couch and Minho took the chance to open the door and make a run for it. He bolted down the driveway and ran to the right. All the burdens on his shoulder lift off of him as he felt free again. Free from that person he couldn't even consider his father anymore.

That all came crashing down on him when he felt a a hand, roughly grab the back of his shirt. He turned his head around and made eye contact with his fuming father.

"Where do you think you're going? You piece of shit." His dad growled at him. Minho could smell the liquor from his dad's breath and his face scrunched up.

"I-I'm sorry." He apologized quietly.

"Save it." His dad snapped, dragging him back home.

_How did he wake up? How did he even catch up to me?_

When they got back to the house, his dad closed the door and threw Minho onto the floor, causing the small boy to help in pain.

"Do you really think you can get away from me that easily?!" His dad yelled at him. Minho quickly shook his head in fear.

"You deserve a punishment." His dad swung his foot at Minho's stomach, making him cry out in pain.

"S-stop, you're hurting me." The child begged.

"This is what you deserve. You brought this on yourself the moment you decided to open that door and run away. This is your fault kid." His dad spat in his face.

"I'm sorry, I-I promise I won't do it again." Minho whispered.

"Oh you're right! You won't do it again because I won't give you a chance to do it again." His dad said before he reached out to Minho. The boy flinched as his dad grabbed his shirt, dragging him to who knows where.

Soon Minho realized his dad was dragging him to the basement. He opened the basement door and threw his son down the stairs and slammed the door shut, locking it. Minho laid on the cold concrete floor of the basement, in the dark, sobbing in pain.

After a few minutes, he slowly and painfully got up, walking up the stairs. He reached for the doorknob and turned it, soon realizing it was locked. He shook it harder, banging on the door and yelling out for his dad to open it. Minho gave up after ten minutes, he walked back down the stairs and sat on the bottom stair, looking around the basement to find something that would entertain him, but there was nothing.

Minho didn't know how long he sat there for, it felt like days but it was only a few hours. Finally, he heard the door unlock and open. Minho quickly got up from excitement and immediately sat back down, whimpering. His dad closed the door and walked down the stairs with a bunch of things in his arms.

"Don't fucking move or else I will kill you." His dad threatened.

Minho sucked in his breath. He couldn't believe his dad threatened to kill him. Who was this man?

His father walked over to the wall and started doing something that Minho couldn't see since his dad's body was covering it, but whatever he was doing, was making a lot of noise. The boy could've ran up the stairs, lock his dad in the basement, and then run out of the house, calling for help. But he was absolutely petrified of his father and with his body aching in pain, he definitely wasn't in any shape to run.

When his dad was done with whatever he was doing, he stood up and Minho could finally see what he was working on. He had drilled something into the wall, a long chain with a metal circle at the end.

"Come here Minho." His dad said as he walked towards the child.

Minho couldn't run away, but he kicked his legs at his dad to get him away. He didn't know what that chain was for, but he knew it wasn't going to be anything good.

"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" The boy screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Shut up child." His dad said through his clenched teeth as he wrapped his hand around Minho's neck. The boy quickly felt his amounts of air get short so he clawed at his dad's hands, gasping for air.

The next thing Minho knew, he woke up on the basement floor with a metal shackle around his left ankle that was connected to a chain. Minho grabbed at it and tried to get it off of his ankle but he couldn't remove it. Next he tried to pull the chain from the wall, but it wouldn't budge, not with Minho's limited strength. He stood up and limped around. The chain wasn't short but it was long, maybe five feet long. The shackle around his left leg was heavy and very uncomfortable. It would pinch at his skin sometimes and the metal wasn't smoothed out so it would cut and irritate the skin on Minho's ankle. At first, Minho tried to not move around because his left ankle was in so much pain from all open skin that wasn't healed and walking around would create more open wounds and irritation.

A few hours later, his dad came back down into the basement with a plate of food, there wasn't a lot of food but at this point Minho was starving and would've been grateful for anything. His dad dropped the plate in front of Minho and went back upstairs. The boy stuffed the food down his throat.

A few minutes later his dad came downstairs again, holding a blanket, pillow and a mat. He threw the mat on the floor and dropped the blanket and pillow on top of it. His dad walked back up the stairs and a a minute later, he came back with a first grade workbook, a lamp, and a clock, aggressively dropping the items in the floor beside Minho.

"There's your bed and since you're not going to school anymore, I bought you a workbook that should be equivalent to whatever you learn in a school. Here's a pencil." He threw it at Minho, making him flinch.

"Why did you put this on my leg?" The child asked softly.

"So you won't run away." His dad said as if it was the most obvious thing.

"Please let me out." Minho begged. "I don't want to be here."

"No! You're going to leave if I do let you go. You should've thought about that before you tried to run away the first place."

"I miss mom." Minho whispered, thinking his dad wouldn't hear, but he did.

"She's dead! A drunk driver crashed into her and the impact ruined her body and killed her! She's gone!" His dad yelled at the child like it was his fault.

Minho started crying, he didn't know if it was from how scared he was or because he just found out the details of his mom's death, maybe it was a mix of both.

His dad slapped Minho across his face, "Stop crying! You don't deserve to cry over her when it was your fault! She got hit after she dropped you off at school. If you weren't alive then she would still be alive right now!"

The world around Minho went mute after his dad said that. The constant pain he was feeling disappeared as his body went numb. It felt like his world was crashing down on him again. He felt like throwing up the little food he had in his stomach.

_My mom is dead because of me._

After his dad left the room, it was like all the physical and mental pain came colliding at once and he started crying hysterically. His vision was blurry from the amount of tears that was forming in his eyes and he couldn't breathe properly. He cried for hours until he fell asleep.

This cycle continued for a year. His dad would come in his room in the morning and give him breakfast then leave him alone until he came down to give Minho dinner. Everytime he came to give the boy food, he would remind him that he was the reason for his mother's death. About twice a week, his dad would come down when he was extremely drunk and beat the shit out of Minho until he passed out.

One day, his dad never came to give Minho breakfast, which the boy didn't think much of because sometimes his dad forgot breakfast, but he would always come for dinner. Minho just continued to work on the second grade workbook that his dad gave him. He read a few books and then laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling, daydreaming of a better life he could be living. He checked his clock, _8:34 P.M._

Minho started to get confused, by now his dad would've brought him some food. He had never went a day without any food and he really didn't want to experience that. He waited and waited but his dad never came. The boy gave up and just went to sleep starving. The next day, he woke up at 12:45, and yet, there was no food in front of him. He got up weakly and tried to walk to the stairs. He knew he wouldn't have made it, but he just hoped that magically his chain would become longer and of course that didn't happen. By now Minho learned to deal with the pain on his left ankle, he learned to get used to the irritation and the open wounds that never fully healed. It was almost like his body numbed the pain away.

Minho walked back to his mat and laid down. He picked up a book and started reading it. He only had like four books that he read over and over again. He's read them so many times that he could quote word for word every page in the book.

After a few hours, he felt the whole house shake. The little boy quickly sat up and looked around.

_What was that?_

Minho heard stomps on the floor above him. He just figured it was his drunk dad and laid back down on his mat, thinking about food.

He heard the door to the basement wiggle and Minho shot back up again, hoping and praying that it was his dad giving him some food. When the door opened he was blinded by a light. Minho quickly squinted and threw his arms over his eyes.

"Dad?" He called out.

"Oh my god there's someone in here." He heard a female voice say. Minho started shaking, he didn't recognize the voice.

He heard three people walk down the old wooden stairs. The bright light disappeared and Minho removed his arms from his face. Once his eyes adjusted to the semi darkness, he was met with three police officers. Minho immediately scrambled back to the wall, trying to get as far away from them as possible.

"Don't be scared." The female police officer said in a soft voice. "We're here to help you."

"W-where's my dad?" Minho asked quietly.

"Is the man that lives in this house your father?" She asked.

"Yes... I live here too." Minho mumbled.

"What's your name?"

"Lee Minho."

"Minho, how come you're in the basement?"

"M-my dad chained and locked me in here after I tried to run away." Minho pointed to the shackle around his red and swollen ankle.

"Oh Jesus, I didn't even see that." One of the other officer's whispered.

"Poor child." The other one said.

"We're going to help you get that off of your ankle and then take you somewhere where you can get that healed." The female officer said.

"Where's my dad?" Minho asked again.

"He's... gone."

"Gone where?"

"...He's not alive anymore." She said softly.

"Oh." Was all Minho said. He didn't cry, or freak out, instead he felt a weight lifted off his shoulders.

The police officers carefully took the metal shackle off of his ankle and the state his ankle was in, was not pleasant. There was dried blood around it, it was red and swollen and there was scabs and dead skin surrounding it, a lot of exposed tissue, dead and new. One of the police officers carried him to their car and drove him to the hospital. They set him on a bed and a doctor came by and checked on his ankle. Him and some nurses cleaned it up and gave him some ointment and wrapped it up. If they cared for it a year ago then Minho would be screaming in pain but his nerves were so dead on his left ankle, he didn't even flinch while they cleaned it up.

Minho stayed at the hospital for a few days. He finally had access to proper hygiene for the first time in a year and he never felt better. After his time in the hospital, the female police officer came back. She asked a few questions about his time in the basement and about his father, after that she took him to her car and drove off somewhere.

"What happened to my dad?" Minho asked in the car.

"I told you, he passed." She replied gently.

"But how? Why?" Minho urged. The police officer stayed quiet so the boy continued, "It's okay to tell me the truth. I want to know and I'm not going to cry."

The officer stayed quiet for a few seconds before sighing, "Okay, um, this is not gonna be easy news to take but your father... killed someone. Then the police found him at your house, in his room. He took his own life away."

"Oh." Was all Minho said. He felt like he should've been sad for his dad's death but he was instead relieved. "Where are we going?"

"We are going to a place where you're going to stay." She said.

The drive lasted for about three minutes more until she parked in front of a big place. The police officer walked with Minho into the front door. She was rolling a suitcase.

"Hi I'm here to drop off Lee Minho. He should be an orphan here." The officer said to the front lady.

"Oh yes, his name is right here."

The police officer turned to Minho, "Goodbye bud, make a lot of friends here. I also packed a bunch of your stuff." She smiled before walking out the door.

"Come on Minho." A women said to him, holding her hand out for him.

Minho hesitantly grabbed her hand and followed her to a big room with a bunch of bunk beds. She guided him to an empty bed.

"This is your bed. Your stuff is going to go under your bed." She said nicely as she placed the suitcase under his bed. "Come on, let's introduce you to the other kids."

Minho followed her outside and there was about fifty other kids out there. Some looked his age, some looked younger and some looked older. They were all doing their own things with their group of friends.

"Everyone," The lady called out, getting everyone's attention, "This is Lee Minho, he's going to join us here so please be nice to him and try to become friends with him."

But that didn't happen. None of the kids cared about Minho and no one wanted to be friends with him. Every time he tried to talk to the other kids or sat next to them, they either ignored him or walked away. Some of them even bullied him, called him rude names and pushed him around.

There was one kid in specific who wouldn't stop bothering Minho and he was the worst of them all. Park Moonjin. He reminded Minho of his dad. Moonjin wasn't as bad as him but they did similar things. Moonjin would push him down, kick him and pull his hair. They were the same age, but Minho was so scrawny and skinny from only being given small scraps of food for breakfast and dinner for the past year. He was weak and didn't know how to protect himself which made him vulnerable to someone like Moonjin and he took advantage of that.

For a year straight, Moonjin would basically abuse Minho and go the extra mile just to make his life a living hell. Minho thought that once his dad was out of the picture, then he would be able to live in peace and be happy again, but Moonjin was there to prove to him that that wasn't going to happen. Minho gained some weight since the orphanage gave him a better food portion than his dad but he was still a bit underweight and weak.

At nine years old, Minho was informed that he was going to a foster family and the boy was going to cry of happiness. He was finally going to escape Moonjin and his abuse. But that happiness lasted for about thirty seconds after the lady told him that the foster family was also going to foster another child. That child was Park Moonjin.

Minho tried to think positively and told himself that Moonjin wasn't going to be as abusive since there were going to be parents watching them and it was going to be more secured and protected.

A few days later, the foster family came to pick up Minho and Moonjin from the orphanage. The family had another son about their age too, his name was Jaewoo. The first week was okay, it wasn't bad because Moonjin didn't really talk to him at all, he kind of just ignored his existence and Minho wasn't complaining. But it wasn't great either, Jaewoo became really close with Moonjin and that also meant he ignored Minho's presence. The boy just felt lonely, but he wasn't complaining because it could be worse.

After the first week, the parents started to travel a lot more for their job. The only reason they started fostering children was because their son didn't want to be lonely while they went on business trips. So the parents left after the first week which meant there was no more adults watching their every move. Sure there were nanny's that stayed with them, but they never really payed attention to the kids. They were too concerned with themselves.

On the second day without the parents, Minho was laying on his bed, reading a book when someone opened his bedroom door. He looked up from his book and saw Moonjin's head pop in.

"Hey Minho, I just came in here to apologize." He said.

Minho raised an eyebrow at him. "Huh?"

Moonjin walked into the bedroom and sat at the edge of his bed. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you at the orphanage. I just wasn't happy and I took it all out on you, the vulnerable new kid and I'm sorry for that. I promise I won't hurt you anymore, I'm sorry for what I did and I hope we can become friends."

Minho looked at Moonjin and the boy looked genuine so he nodded. "Okay I forgive you."

"Hug? To start fresh?" Moonjin opened his arms.

Minho shrugged and hugged the boy. As they were hugging, Moonjin pushed Minho to the bed and sat on his stomach, pinning his arms above him on the bed. "Now!" Moonjin shouted.

Minho gave the boy a confused look, "What're you do-" He quickly stopped talking when he saw Jaewoo walk into his room with two rolls of ropes, he threw one of them to Moonjin and he caught it. Before Minho could process what was happening, he felt his wrists and ankles being tied together with the rope the both of them had. Minho tried to squirm and kick but it was too late, he was already tied up. Moonjin got off of him and high fived Jaewoo.

"Untie me!" Minho shouted.

"No. Where's the fun in that?" Moonjin laughed.

"You promised that you would hurt me."

"Yeah that was a lie. I just said that so I could get you to trust me."

Minho opened his mouth slightly. How could he have been so stupid? How could he trust someone like Moonjin to keep his promises? The rope tied around his wrists and ankles were so tight, it was digging into to his skin and cutting the circulation off. Every time he slightly moved his wrist or ankles, the rope would rub against his skin, creating burns and if he moved enough, then it would rip layers of skin causing him to bleed.

"What're you going to do to me?" Minho's voice shook with fear.

"Oh you know, have some fun." Jaewoo laughed.

Moonjin walked around and grabbed a picture frame from Minho's desk. It was a picture of Minho and his mom, his favorite picture, the only physical memory he has of her. Moonjin slammed it onto the ground making Minho flinched as the glass shattered. The next thing he knew, Moonjin was dragging him out of his room, forcing the boy to step on the glass with his bare feet, cutting the bottoms of his feet. Minho yelped in pain.

"Oh shut up." Jaewoo rolled his eyes.

Moonjin dragged Minho, by his hair, to the top of the stairs and stopped. He yawned and Jaewoo kicked Minho, making the boy lose his balance and fall down the wooden stairs. When he reached the bottom, he was sure he had a concussion and dozens of bruises all over his body.

Moonjin and Jaewoo laughed the entire time, occasionally throwing insults at him too. After they were done laughing, they walked down the stairs to where Minho was and untied him. They left him there, in pain and didn't do anything to help the boy.

After Minho got enough strength to get up, he limped back to his room and cleaned up the glass on his floor. He picked up the picture and thankfully it was ruined, only the frame was, but Minho didn't care about that. He began to treat his own wounds.

This continued for months. The two tortured Minho a lot worse than what Moonjin did at the orphanage. It was basically as bad as his dad, minus the starvation. He found himself back into that void of darkness and didn't know if he was ever going to get out.

One day Moonjin and Jaewoo walked into Minho's room when he was taking a nap. Moonjin slowly took one of Minho's wrists and tied it to the top of his bed frame. He repeated it for the other arm. Jaewoo, on the other hand, tied his ankles to the bottom of his bed frame. Moonjin slapped Minho's cheek to wake him up.

The boy woke up in shock and tried to move his arms when he realized they were tied to his bed. He frantically looked around his room and saw the two devils. He tried to bring his knees to his chest for comfort but soon realized his legs were also tied to his bed frame, not able to move them. Minho started to freak out a little. This was different. They never tied him to his bed, they usually just tied his arms together and his ankles together.

"W-why'd you tie me to the bed?" Minho stuttered out of fear.

"Me and Moonjin were talking and we both realized how boring it's been torturing you and we decided that it's time to do something different." Jaewoo smiled evilly.

Minho looked at them in fear, "Different how?" He asked, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"Oh trust me you'll enjoy it." Moonjin winked.

Minho knew for a fact he wasn't going to enjoy anything if it came from Moonjin or Jaewoo. He squirmed and tried to get out of the ropes but of course that only resulted with him worsening his unhealed burns, scabs and ripped skin. He felt a little bit of blood trickle down his arm and leg from the freshly opened skin he caused from moving around in the tight ropes.

"Get away from me!" Minho screamed resulting in Moonjin slapping his already sore cheek.

"Shut up."

Minho kept squirming, he was going to fight even if he knew he was going to lose.

Moonjin got annoyed with Minho's amount of movement so he sat on top of the boy's stomach. Minho could feel his breath get short. He stopped squirming to safe his amount of breaths. The boy glared at the male on top of him, resulting in another slap.

Minho was about to yell back when he felt Jaewoo's hand travel up his leg. His eyes widened. "Jaewoo s-stop." He begged

The male didn't listen or say anything back. He continued to drag his hand up Minho's leg until he stopped at the seam of his shorts. Before Minho had time to wrap his mind around what was happening, Jaewoo slid his hand inside Minho's pants and palmed him through his underwear. The boy froze, he didn't know what to do, he's never felt so uncomfortable in his life.

Jaewoo continued and slid his hand inside Minho's underwear, touching places that he should've never touched. Minho squirmed for his life, he didn't care if he ripped his arms from the rope or if he got hurt even more by Moonjin. He just wanted it to stop. He wanted Jaewoo to stop touching him and to get his hand out of his underwear. He screamed with tears rolling down his face.

Moonjin punched Minho but the boy didn't stop. He kept twisting and turning. He didn't stop until Moonjin hit him enough times to knock Minho out. Jaewoo didn't stop either, he was laughing, enjoying everything and Minho was sure that the boy didn't stop even when he was passed out on the bed.

When Minho woke up, he was untied and there was dried blood all over his wrists and ankles that were aching. There were dried tears on his face and he felt exhausted. He just wanted to curl up and cry. He would 1000% much rather be in the basement of his old home, starving.

Minho found the urge to get up and take a shower, he needed to wash off the dried blood and the feel of the violation. Afterwards he walked out of the house. It was late and the bright moon was the only source of light. It was cold but Minho didn't care, he just needed to take a walk. While on the walk he ran into a couple of street fighters and almost got himself into a bad situation, but thankfully the street fighters he ran into were actually sweet, they only fought people who were rude or whoever fought them first. There were seven of them.

"You shouldn't be out here at this time, especially alone." The first one said.

"I'd much rather get beat up than stay at the place I'm at for any longer." Minho said.

"Having a hard time back at home?" Another one said.

"Yeah you could say that."

"We can teach you how to fight and stand up for yourself." Another one said.

"Jaebum hyung, he's a child!" One said.

"We all are! He's definitely not much younger than Yugyeom." Jaebum said.

"I don't care, he looks like an innocent child."

"Youngjae, think about it, he can start off fighting as a child and get better and better at it when he gets older." Jaebum explained.

"Maybe he'll be the best fighter out there." Someone else said.

"Jackson hyung, you're not supposed to help him." Youngjae said.

"I think he's right though." One said.

"You too Mark hyung?" Youngjae said and Mark just shrugged.

"If he's having a had time at home then maybe us teaching him how to fight will help him get out of that situation." A tall guy said.

"I agree with Bambam." Another tall one said.

"Of course you agree with him Yugyeom." Youngjae said.

The six of them stared at the seventh one, waiting for his opinion. "Jinyoung what do you think?" Jaebum said.

Jinyoung shrugged, "I don't see why we shouldn't teach him."

The five of them cheered as Youngjae sighed. "Okay fine."

The seven of them taught Minho the basics. Of course Minho wasn't good and was quite terrible at it in fact but he was determined to learn. After an hour, they bid goodbye and Minho went home.

-

The next day Moonjin and Jaewoo tied Minho up like before, the boy was obviously not strong or skilled enough to fight back. The same events happened again. Minho's privacy being violated and Moonjin knocking the him out. Minho woke up and took a shower and proceeded to learn skills from the seven friends. He met up with them every night, even the days he wasn't tied up.

One day when the two devils tied Minho up, the boy prepared himself for another session of feeling violated but this time was different. The two definitely wanted to do more this time and Minho wasn't prepared for it. Jaewoo placed his hands inside Minho's underwear and traveled farther down, not hesitating before he stuck a finger inside him.

Minho screamed, from the pain and also from the sudden invasion. Moonjin reached his hand inside Minho's underwear and touched him. Minho tried every way to get out of the ropes. He was willing to lose two hands. The adrenaline that was rushing through Minho's body, numbed the pain of the rope cutting and burning his skin, his fight or flight mode was activate, but of course Moonjin stopped what he was doing to punch Minho until he was unconscious.

When Minho woke up, he was untied but his pants and underwear were at his ankles and he felt sore in his lower back. He curled up and cried. He knew exactly what happened when he blacked out and he couldn't believe how someone could enjoy doing something so scarring to someone's life. Taking something so special when the person didn't even want it to be taken, when they were unconscious. It was supposed to be lost with someone you love but Minho had it ripped away from him by someone he barely even knew. Never in his life, had he ever felt so worthless and gross.

Minho sat up and looked at his wrists and ankles. They've never been this badly burned, swollen and they've never bled him this much. The skin was all ripped open and the flesh was deeply ripped. It was starting to scab up. He weakly got up and limped to the bathroom and took a shower, but no matter how many times he washed and scrubbed his body, he never felt clean, he felt even more dirty than before. The boy dropped down in the tub and hugged his knees, silently weeping to himself.

After some minutes, Minho pulled himself together, promising himself that he wasn't going to cry over them anymore. He promised to himself that he was going to work hard and get better at fighting and he wasn't going to let them take advantage of himself anymore.

Minho got out of the shower and got dressed. He marched to the normal meet up place, ignoring the soreness and pain.

When he walked up to the seven boys, he said with no emotion, "I need you to teach me everything now and to train me, I cannot stay in that house any longer."

The boys were taken aback, but they nodded and for the next three hours, they trained and trained Minho to become stronger than the two devils combined.

The next day, the two satans didn't do anything to Minho and the boy was happy, it meant that he had an extra day to train.

The day after, Moonjin and Jaewoo walked into Minho's room. Minho acted asleep and when Moonjin reached to grab his hand, the boy opened his eyes and punched him right in the nose, most likely breaking it. Then the boy used his foot and kicked Jaewoo in the face. Minho quickly got up and punched Moonjin again, even harder, knocking him out. Jaewoo quickly recovered and tried to run out of the door, but Minho yanked him back by the hair, pulling him to the floor. Jaewoo fell on his butt with a loud thud and the next thing he knew, Minho's knee was coming towards his face, knocking him out too.

Looking around the room, satisfied with what was laid out in front of him, Minho placed a letter he wrote the day before, on his desk. That read:

_You've tortured and ruined my life enough, I'm over it. You've done things to me that I would never want to happen to anyone else. You took something from me that I'll never get back and because of that, I promise you that the next time you see me, your life will end right then and there. And unlike you, I keep my promises. _   
_Minho_

He took his suitcase of packed belongings and ran away. For a few days he stayed with the seven boys and trained, trying to get better than he was before. Minho considered being apart of the seven boys and the boys were fine with it until Bambam started thinking.

"I think he would fit better with Chan's group." He said.

"Why do you say that?" Jackson asked.

"Because if Minho really wants to get revenge on whoever he's wanting to in the future, then Chan would be much better and faster at finding who they are. They would also be much more willing to help Minho kill them. We just fight people until they're knocked out."

Everyone went quiet, they were busy thinking about what Bambam said.

"Yeah that makes more sense. I'm willing to join whoever this Chan is, but I need you to explain who he is." Minho spoke up.

Bambam smiled, "Chan's dad is the leader of a really powerful gang called Stray Kids. Chan is the next leader in line and he's always looking for new members to train. You're a fast learner and you're strong so I don't think you'll have a problem getting in. They'll also help you get stronger and learn new techniques. Chan's also a really nice guy so you'll fit right in and feel welcomed."

Minho thought for a second. Of course he didn't want to leave the seven boys but he knew in his heart that he belonged with Stray Kids. He nodded, "Okay, when do I get to meet the guy."

-

A few days later Minho finally met with Chan and his groups of friends. Of course he was a little hesitant to trust them, but if Bambam and his other six friends were close friends with Chan, Woojin, Changbin, Hyunjin and Yedam, then he knew that these guys were trustworthy people.

Chan and the others were actually really sweet and tried to make Minho feel as comfortable as possible. Chan saw the potential in Minho and the moment he saw him, he knew that he was definitely going to fit in with everyone. He knew that they were going to be close friends, he just needed to give Minho some time to adjust.

At first, Minho was very on the guard and the five boys were very respectful of it, but after some weeks he finally let himself free. He felt their good vibes the moment they started treating for his bruised, swollen, and scabbed up wrists, that didn't look very good at all. They tried their best to heal it without leaving any scars but the tissues on his ankles and wrists were so badly damaged and the wounds were so deep that it was impossible for them to heal without brutal looking scars. But Minho didn't care, he cared about that fact that he finally met people who he felt safe with and felt like he could express his true self with. People who he cared for and who cared for him.

Minho knew they wouldn't judge him because of his past and wouldn't make him feel like lesser of a person just because of what he went through. He didn't have a problem telling them about it because he trusted them but he just needed time to get over what happened to him. Time to heal and move on.

That time didn't happen until a year later. Finally, Minho sat them down and told them the story of his life leading up to the part where he joined Chan. Just like Minho thought, the boys didn't treat Minho any different or look at him differently. Instead they were absolutely livid and wanted to hunt and find Moonjin and Jaewoo.

And they did.

When Chan became leader of Stray Kids, one of their first missions was to find Moonjin and Jaewoo. They found out that the two were the leaders of a gang called WPQO. Moonjin also apparently went into a different foster home and got adopted by another family, but he and Jaewoo still stayed best friends.

For a few days they planned the attacks and on a Friday, they finally put the plan into action. Stray Kids didn't want to fight the whole gang, they just wanted the leaders, so they went at a time where there was not a lot of people at their hideout, just the two of them.

When Stray Kids go into a mission, they always cover their face all the way up to right under their eyes just so their face won't get dirty. When they attacked, they busted into the room where the two boys were talking about who knows what. All five of them pointed their guns at the pair causing Moonjin and Jaewoo to look up in surprise, reaching for their weapons that weren't there.

"Looking for this?" Hyunjin said while he held their weapons in his hand.

"H-how did you-" Moonjin gaped.

"Don't worry about it." Minho said aggressively.

"Minho?" Jaewoo asked, he knew that voice.

"Remember me?" Minho said through clenched teeth.

"Of course we remember you. We had a bunch of fun with you." Moonjin winked jokingly.

"I'm the one who took your virginity away." Jaewoo chuckled, making Moonjin laugh too.

_The audacity of them to be laughing at what they did to me like it was a joke. They ruined my life._

Minho scoffed, "And I'm going to be the one who took your life away." He growled before he shot Jaewoo three times in his heart.

Moonjin yelled at the top of his lungs. He frantically checked for his friends heart beat but when he found nothing, he got up to lunge at Minho, but the boy shot Moonjin's shoulder and he fell with a grunt.

Minho purposely kept Moonjin alive just so he could live with the pain knowing that his best friend died in front of him, by the person he used to torture and make life a living hell. Minho wanted to give Moonjin the pain he felt when they took his innocence away from him at such a young age, the pain of feeling so worthless.

Minho put his gun away and walked out of the room with the rest of friends following with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before you ask, no i did not make a mistake. i did not forget about what i wrote in chapter zero. confused? just wait, it'll make sense.
> 
> you guys finally know the reasons behind minho's scars and his childhood and how he met the gang. what surprised you?
> 
> yes, moonjin is the boss of the gang and yeonjun's best friend, not soobin.
> 
> opinions on moonjin now?
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- relive it for you  
\- he's after you  
\- break up
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	35. t h i r t y f o u r .

When Minho was done explaining his life story, Jisung looked down at his lap, worrying Minho a little bit. He was nervous to see how his boyfriend would react to everything and really wanted to ask Jisung, but he knew that he should give the boy some time to process everything.

A few seconds later, Minho heard sniffles coming from his boyfriend, and he started panicking. "Jisung? Baby what's wrong?" He lifted Jisung's face and saw tears streaming down his face.

Minho frowned and wiped the tears away with his thumb. "Why are you crying?" He asked softly.

Jisung placed a hand over Minho's and leaned into his boyfriend's touch. He closed his eyes and took a shaky breath, a few more tears slipped down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. You didn't deserve to be treated like that."

"Please stop crying, I'm okay, really." Minho smiled to show the person he loved that he was actually okay.

"If I knew your past was this serious then I would've never asked about it and your scars. I'm sorry for acting so ignorant about Moonjin."

"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault for what happened to me and it's not your fault that you didn't know what happened. Stop blaming yourself for nothing. It happened a long time ago and I've moved on from it. _I'm_ the one who wanted to tell you because I love you and you deserved to know the truth."

Jisung cried a little harder after Minho said that. He really got lucky with him.

"I thought I said no more crying." Minho said lightly.

"These are tears of gratefulness, I don't know how I deserve you."

Minho frowned a bit, "Jisung if anything, I'm the one who doesn't deserve you. You are such a sweet and caring person that sees the good in people. Even for me and I'm in a gang. I treated you like shit at the beginning and you still were kind towards me."

"Actually I was terrified of you." Jisung giggled softly.

"Yeah but even if you were scared of me, you still unconsciously cared for me and saw the good in me when no one else really does. That's just your nature and I adore it so much."

"I mean finding the good in you wasn't hard, it might've took more work, but it wasn't hard."

Minho's heart skipped a beat, he really was in love with Jisung.

"... Is this why you act so cold to other people?" Jisung asked quietly.

Minho nodded, "Yeah basically. After Moonjin and Jaewoo, I didn't want people to think I was vulnerable like I used to be because that's what led to all the unfortunate events. I started having really bad trust issues after that and didn't trust anyone other than Stray Kids... Until you and your friends came along. But because of my trust issues, I act really rude since I doesn't want people to think that they have a chance to get close with me." He explained.

It all made sense now. Minho isn't an actual dick, he just had a very rough childhood that forced him to act the way he does because he's doesn't want it to repeat again.

"Under that mask, you're actually a really sweet person and you would do anything for the people you love. I think you should show that part of you more because that's one of the things I love about you." Jisung said softly.

He really knew how to make Minho's heart flutter. Even if it was from the smallest things, like hearing Jisung say what he loved him. It made Minho want to tackle the boy and give him all his love. Which is exactly what he did.

Jisung most definitely wasn't expecting his boyfriend to attack him to the bed with open arms, engulfing him into a hug, but he certainly wasn't complaining. He loved being in Minho's presence, it was like a comfort blanket and it made him feel the most safe.

"You know I love you right?" Minho smiled, cuddling his boyfriend.

Jisung giggled, "You might've mentioned that a few times, but I wouldn't complain if I heard you say that all day for the rest of my life."

"I'm more than willing to say that all day for the rest of your life."

There goes Jisung's heart again, beating like he ran a marathon, all because of Lee Minho.

"I really need you to stop doing that." Jisung mumbled.

"I didn't even do anything." Minho chuckled.

"Shut up, you're making my heart beat really fast and you make me flustered and you make my heart melt and you make fall for you even harder than I already am." He rambled.

Minho smiled, feeling his heart doing exactly the things that Jisung described. "Then I'm going to need you to stop doing that too because you make my heart do all those things and you make me fall for you even harder than I already am, it can be over the smallest things too, like hearing you say 'I love you'."

"I love you with my whole heart."

The corners of Minho's lips curled into the brightest smile he's ever wore. "I love you with my whole heart too." He whispered.

Jisung felt the heat rise in his cheeks so he rolled to the other side, wanting to hide his red face from Minho, but the gang member noticed this and rolled Jisung back so he was facing him. The red boy quickly buried his face in Minho's chest, making the boy chuckle at his cuteness.

After some time Jisung lifted his head from Minho's chest, pouting at him. Minho brought his hand up and gently caressed Jisung's cheek before leaning in and kissing his forehead very gently. Jisung took a hold of Minho's hand and brought it into his view. He carefully looked at the damage done to his boyfriend's wrist. Now that Jisung knew the story behind them, he touched them very gently, almost as if he would rip the skin if he touched them roughly. He quietly observed the harsh markings while Minho observed Jisung.

Jisung didn't even notice that his eyebrows were furrowed or that he was frowning, but Minho did. "Baby, I'm fine. It doesn't hurt and I'm not going to break if you touch them. I know it looks really bad but there's no pain."

"I just wish that you didn't have to go through that." Jisung softly kissed Minho's wrists.

The gang member stayed quiet for a moment before saying, "I used to wish that too, but everything happens for a reason and if I never went through that, then I wouldn't have joined Chan hyung's gang and I would've never met you. So if I had a choice to go back and change my past, but also have the future change or to have to relive it again and keep the same future, then I would, without a doubt or hesitation, choose to relive it again if it meant that I would still meet you and Stray Kids."

Jisung's cheeks turned a light pink, "I don't think I'm worth you going through that again."

Minho frowned. How does Jisung not know that he deserved the entire world? "Stop talking yourself down all the time. You're the most amazing and beautiful person, inside and out. I don't want to hear you insult yourself anymore because none of it is true. I don't know who told you that, but I wanna have a little talk with them because you're worth going through that again and much more."

Jisung looked up at his boyfriend with watery eyes and a little pout. He was going to cry any second because of how sweet his boyfriend was being.

"Don't cry." Minho said softly, gently caressing Jisung's cheek with his thumb.

"Stop making me cry by being so sweet." Jisung laughed lightly and his boyfriend smiled.

Jisung's mind wandered to the first day that he met Moonjin and remembered something that didn't make sense to him. "When Moonjin first came to our school and we got assigned to our partners. You almost punched him, but Changbin and Hyunjin stopped you, telling you the 'remember the rule'. Why'd they stop you? What's the rule?"

Minho sighed, "Our one and only rule in Stray Kids is to never kill anyone in front of the eyes of the innocent, people who aren't in gangs. Changbin and Hyunjin stopped me from punching Moonjin because they knew that once I started, I wouldn't have stopped until he was dead."

Jisung nodded. "How'd you know that Moonjin wasn't going to follow us?" He asked after a moment of silence, referring back to when they were in his room.

"He won't follow you 24/7, he only said that to scare you. Even if he did decide to follow me, then I would definitely know and our guards would message me or something telling me I'm being followed. If that didn't work, then the people guarding the entire property would for sure see him, even if he thinks he's slick because the guards are very well trained and they know what they're doing." Minho paused for a second, "There's been plenty of people who tried to follow me and the gang, wanting to find out where we live, but there's a reason why no one has ever succeeded."

"But how do you know he's not going to go after my siblings?"

"Well, because Moonjin doesn't know how to get through your gate and like I said before, he's not smart so he won't figure it out. He's also not after your siblings so he won't waste his time going after them."

Jisung knew the answer to the question he was about to ask but he still had to ask. "Who's he after?"

Minho sighed, holding his hands, "You."

Jisung closed his eyes, "Why me? What does he want from me?"

The gang member frowned, "It's because you're the one that's dating me. I don't want you to freak out, but the gang and I think he's going to use you to get to me, get revenge from when I killed his best friend. But me, Chan hyung, Woojin hyung, and everyone else aren't going to let him get the chance to get near you. We're all going to keep a close eye on Moonjin and you."

Jisung stayed quiet and Minho continued. "That's why I need you to tell me whenever something weird or out of the ordinary happens to you because if something happens to you then I'm not going to forgive myself."

The boy still hadn't said anything. He was thinking and processing everything that was told to him. Minho sighed and frowned even more. "If you want to break up and leave me then I understand. It'll be safer for you to not be wit-"

"Stop." Jisung demanded and Minho immediately closed his mouth. "Don't even finish that sentence. I'm _not_ leaving you. That's not an option. Yes I'm overwhelmed by everything you just said to me, but I don't care if you think I'll be safer by not being with you because I won't feel safe without you there. I trust you and the gang and leaving you is something I _refuse_ to do."

Minho blinked a few times before the corners of his mouth curled up. "God I'm so glad you said that because I wouldn't be able to live without you." Minho said before he leaned in and gave his boyfriend a deep kiss filled with love.

-

The next day Jisung and Minho hung out together until he got a text from his siblings to come home. Minho dropped him off, making sure to tell him to text him if anything happened.

When the gang member went home, he walked into the basement where his brothers would probably be hanging out. The boy sat down on the couch and felt everyone's eyes on him. They were all wondering why Jisung stayed the night. The night before, Minho texted Chan briefly saying that Jisung was coming over because something happened. He never went into detail though.

"Oh hey Minho." Chan said.

"Hey hyung." Minho sighed.

"How come Jisung stayed the night? What happened?" Woojin asked worried.

Minho sighed, "Jisung called me, scared out of his mind, begging me to come over, so I rushed out of the house and raced to his. When I knocked on the door, he threw himself at me and hugged me so tightly. I was so surprised and asked what was wrong. He pulled into the his house and pulled me upstairs, stopping right in front of his bedroom door. He explained to me that when him, Seungmin, Felix, and Jeongin went to Seoul yesterday, he felt like someone was watching him, but whenever he looked around there was no one there. When he went home, there was someone buzzing the gate so he went outside to check it out and he saw an envelope on the floor with his name on it. Inside the envelope was a letter and like ten pictures of the four of them while they were out in Seoul."

Minho threw the envelope onto the table. He took it because Jisung didn't want it anywhere near him. Chan read the letter and gasped. "Moonjin."

Yedam, Hyunjin, and Changbin were flipping through the photos, absolutely fuming, they had the same reaction as Minho from when he first saw the pictures. The fact that someone like Moonjin was following their boyfriends and threatening them and they didn't even know, was unsettling.

"So Moonjin really is going to use Jisung to hurt you." Woojin said.

"No. He isn't. We're not going to let him even get the chance." Chan said sternly.

"I told Jisung to text me right away if anything weird happened to him. You guys should probably do the same." Minho told to the three people who were dating Jisung's friends. They nodded. "Even if Moonjin's not after them, just to be safe."

"Anyways, I told Jisung that he was gonna come home with me and we came home and went up to my room. I told him that the person who sent that letter was Moonjin. Jisung started questioning how I knew and I finally told him everything. My scars, my past life, how I joined the gang, I told him everything." Minho finished explaining.

Everyone in the room slightly gasped and opened their mouths, staring at Minho with wide eyes. They knew he was going to tell Jisung at some point but they didn't think it was going to happen last night.

"How'd he take it?" Hyunjin asked softly.

"He cried and apologized because he felt bad that he even asked about it. He apologized for acting ignorant about the whole Moonjin situation." Minho said. "I don't know why he was apologizing though, he didn't do anything wrong. It made me want to hug him and comfort him... God I really hate seeing him cry from sadness, especially when it's because of me."

"Minho you're making it seem like you purposely tried to make him cry. You didn't. You gave him what he wanted, the truth, and he's definitely really thankful for that." Woojin pointed out.

"I gave him the option to leave me." Minho dropped.

Everyone gave him a look that said, _'stupid bitch'_. He continued, "He didn't even think twice about it before he turned that option down."

"Well no shit. He's in love with you as much as you are in love with him. He won't let anything get in between your guys' relationship, he's gonna fight for it." Changbin said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Minho smiled to himself, thinking about when Jisung said that he loved him.

"Wow I can't believe you told him finally." Yedam said in subtle shock.

"He waited long enough and I wanted to tell him, it was time." Minho shrugged. "I'm glad he took it well though. I mean, not like I thought he wasn't going to, but you know, there's always that fear."

The group knew exactly what Minho was talking about. His past wasn't an easy subject to comprehend, especially the details. People spent their lives thinking that Minho is this tough ass dude with no heart, which is partially true. He is tough but under all that toughness, there's a little broken inside of him. Jisung is the first outside person to know the truth and that made Minho extremely vulnerable and naked, but he didn't care. He loved Jisung and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"What're we going to do with Moonjin?" Changbin said seriously and everyone looked at Minho.

-

Jisung quickly invited his friends when he got home, telling them it was an emergency and they all come over in five minutes.

"What happened?" Seungmin asked the moment Jisung closed his bedroom door.

"What's the emergency?" Felix asked worried.

Jisung sighed, "Sit down." His three friends complied and sat on his bed.

"Remember when we went to Seoul and I thought that someone was following us?"

His three friends gave a confused face as they nodded. "Well after you guys left my house, I was sitting downstairs, watching something, when I heard my gate monitor go off. I walked up to it and checked the camera but there was no one there, no cars or anything. I became really confused because I wasn't expecting anything and my siblings weren't either. I just ignored it and sat back down. Then it went off again, but there was no one there. I ignored it again but it went off. This time I just walked outside to the gate and checked who was there. There was no one, just an envelope on the ground. I picked it up and it had my name written on it. I walked back inside and ran up to my room."

"Jisung you idiot, why'd you go out and check? That's how you die." Seungmin rolled his eyes.

"I don't know, I just had to. Anyways I opened it and there were a stack of pictures and a letter in the envelope. I looked at the pictures and they were of us, when we were walking around Seoul." Jisung said and the other three opened their eyes wide.

"W-what?" Jeongin whispered.

Jisung pulled out his phone and showed his friends the pictures he took of the photos taken of him and his friends. They all looked at the photos in shock, not knowing how to feel or what to do. They felt uncomfortable and unsafe.

"The letter was worse," Jisung showed them a picture of the letter that was written to him.

Seungmin, Felix and Jeongin all gasped with their mouths opened slightly. "Jisung, you need to tell Minho about these or _something. _Who is WPQO?" Felix looked at his friend.

"I did. I called him immediately and he showed up quickly. I showed his the letter and the pictures. He looked livid and he told me that I was going to stay with him for the night at his house. So we went back to his house and sat on the bed. He told me he knew who sent that envelope."

"Who?"

"Moonjin."

Everyone sucked in their breath, "Moonjin? Why would he do that?" Jeongin asked.

"That's what I asked Minho. He looked at me and said that it was time for him to tell me about his past."

Felix, Seungmin, and Jeongin gasped, covering their mouths, "He finally told you?" Seungmin whispered and Jisung nodded.

"He finally explained everything, what his childhood was like, how he got the scars and how he joined the gang. Guys," Jisung felt his eyes weld up with tears. "He's had such a rough childhood, I don't understand how he survived that and continued on with life."

The three friends frowned and engulfed Jisung in a big group hug. "He had Chan hyung, Woojin hyung and everyone in the gang to help him through it. And now he also has you." Felix said.

Jisung wiped his few tears, "Yeah but still."

"No buts, stop crying because I hate seeing you cry." He pouted.

"Okay okay." Jisung gave a sad smile, "Anyways, Moonjin and Minho knew each other when he was a kid and Moonjin is the actual devil. The things him and this dude named Jaewoo did to Minho..." Jisung's voice gave out and the boy took a deep breath, "I wish it never happened to him. Moonjin is the reason for Minho's scars."

When Jisung said that, his three friends' eyes bulged out of their sockets. Moonjin was the reason for Minho's scars? Jisung continued, "After Minho joined Stray Kids, they seeked out revenge for Moonjin and Jaewoo. They found out that the two were in a gang called WPQO. They invaded and killed Jaewoo, but left Moonjin alive to live with the pain of losing someone he loved. That's why they know Moonjin and why he is a horrible person. They think that he's after me to use me for Minho's torture, get revenge."

"That's why our boyfriends are so protective of us now. Jesus Christ, Jisung you need to be with Minho at all times." Seungmin said.

"I know I know. He asked me if I wanted to leave him." Jisung said.

Everyone's eyes darted to him, waiting for his next comment, "He said that it would keep me safer, but I obviously told him that that was bullshit and I would never leave him. He seemed really relieved when I said that."

"Oh thank god, you didn't leave him." Jeongin sighed in relief.

"I could never."

"I didn't expect Moonjin to be like _that._" Felix said in shock.

"I didn't either, I was shocked when Minho told me but it makes sense."

"I'm glad Minho hyung finally told you about it though. You're really doing the impossible right now." Jeongin said making Jisung smile shyly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry for scaring you guys with the chapter hint that said 'break up'. at least we now know that jisung won't leave minho no matter what hehe
> 
> i hope a lot of your questions were answered but if not then comment questions you still have :)
> 
> opinions?
> 
> in the next chapter:  
-they're back?  
-they meet  
-dinner?
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	36. t h i r t y f i v e .

Saturday, Jisung woke up from the loudness outside of his room. He groggily reached over to his nightstand and picked up his phone. _10:45 A.M. _The boy groaned. Why the hell was there such chaos in his home at this time. Jisung lazily lifted his body to sit up and stared at the wall for a few minutes before he fully got up from his bed. The cold wood floor sent shock waves throughout Jisung's body, waking the boy up a bit more. While he walked to the stairs, he almost ran into a maid.

The boy brought his eyebrows together,_ Why the hell are the maids here? They only come when-_  
Jisung's eyes widened in realization. _They are not home, they didn't even text or anything._

Jisung stopped at the top of the stairs, noticing that at the bottom of the stairs there was a bunch of suitcases. Then he heard voices that he hadn't heard in a couple months, but sounded all too familiar. Jisung quickly ran down the stairs and ran to the living room. Sure enough his parents were sitting on the couch with his siblings. Their chef was in the kitchen, cooking food.

His parents looked up when they heard footsteps racing to the living room. His mom's eyes lit up and his dad smiled when they saw their youngest child. "Jisung!"

His parents quickly got up from the couch and walked up to him with their arms open wide, they suffocated their youngest child into a tight hug. "We missed you so much!" His mom said softly.

Jisung hugged his parents back. He missed their touch and their presence. It's been about four months since he's seen them. Of course they talk over the phone, but it's not the same.

Whenever they came home, it was bittersweet for Jisung. Of course he was happy that they were home, but he was also upset at them for leaving for so long. It's kind of dumb since it was their job to go on business trips, but he just wished that they would visit more often or stayed longer when they did visit. He barely saw his parents, out of the 365 days in the year, he saw his parents for maybe 30 of those days.

"Hey mom and dad." Jisung said warmly once they separated from the hug. "How long are you guys going to be home for?" He asked as they sat back down at the couch with his siblings.

"For five days." His dad answered.

Jisung smiled on the outside, but on the inside he was filled with disappointment. _That's it? Five days? Why do I even get my hopes up anymore?_

"So what's been going on with you three?" Jisung's mom asked.

The three siblings all looked at each other, not knowing what to say to that question. "Uhhh..." Brain said.

"Oh come on! It's not a hard question, we just want to know what's been going on with our kids' lives." Jisung's dad said.

"Nothing much has happened to be honest. Just the usual, going to school and doing homework." Jihyo shrugged.

"Are you guys seeing anyone?" His mom asked. "If you say no then I'm slowly going to give up on the dream of having grandkids."

Brian and Jihyo snapped their necks to Jisung, smirking and the boy started to turn red. He slowly raised his hand, "I, uh, I'm dating someone." He said hesitantly with his head down.

His dad raised his eyebrows as his mom squealed and clapped her hands, "Oh my god! Finally, I was honestly getting a little worried. Who is this lucky person that managed to steal your heart."

Jisung groaned and hid his head in a couch pillow, "Mom please."

"Oh stop it." She rolled her eyes at her dramatic son. "Now tell me who."

Jisung lifted his head and looked at his parents in worry. He'd never really came out to them because they were always so busy he just never had the time. He took a deep breath, "It's a boy-"

"Ah ha! I knew it!" His mom said excited, while slapping her laughing husband's shoulder. Jisung looked at his parents with confusion and shock.

"Jisung." His dad said and the boy was bracing for his opinion. "We've known you were gay since forever, we were just waiting for you to tell us. We love you either way. Now tell us about this boy you're dating."

Relief overflowed Jisung's body and his eyes lit up as he beamed. "His name's Minho and he's the sweetest guy ever. We've been dating for a few months and I love him."

"Love?" His dad raised his eyebrows. His siblings and mom had the same facial expression.

"Yeah, I know what you're going to say, love's a strong word, but I really do love him. He makes me happy and he's an amazing guy."

"Well I guess we have to meet him soon and by soon I mean tomorrow." His dad said leaving no room for discussion.

"Well that's good because Minho's coming over tomorrow." Jisung said.

"Have you guys met him?" His mom asked Jihyo and Brian.

They both nodded, "He's a really nice guy and he's a handsome young boy." Jihyo teased Jisung.

"He loves basketball too so he's a keeper." Brian said, making everyone roll their eyes except for their dad.

"Oh good! I'm excited to meet him." His mom smiled.

"Have you guys, you know." His dad gave Jisung the look.

Brian and Jihyo started gagging and covering their ears as Jisung turned into the color of a fire truck. "No! Oh my god, dad no! Please, don't ever ask me that again." The boy hid his face in his hands.

"Good keep it like that. I've got to make sure if he's a gentleman or not." He chuckled.

"What about you two? Have anyone on your mind lately?" His mom asked the two oldest.

"No." Brian said at the same time Jihyo pointed at him and said "He does."

The oldest child whipped his head at his sister, "W-what? No I don't."

"Oh please, you're not fooling anyone. Jisung and I both know that you like someone but have no balls to actually do something about it." Jihyo rolled her eyes.

Brian looked at his younger brother and Jisung nodded, confirming what Jihyo had said. "Yeah you're not very slick. I've noticed the way you change the subject every time we bring it up. You even said that it was 'complicated'."

The parents raised their eyebrows at the oldest child, amused. "So what's his name?"

Brian sighed in defeat. "Jae."

"What's up with you and him?"

"Nothing. It's just that he's in my vocal class and we're close, but I don't wanna ruin our friendship." He shrugged.

"Oh sweetie please, I bet you he likes you back. Take a chance and just ask him out." His mom advised.

Brian nodded, "Enough about me, what about you Jihyo?"

She looked at him, "What about me?"

"Don't you like someone?"

"Oh yeah, his name's Daniel, but I'm too busy to do anything." She shrugged.

"Bullshit, you're just a wimp." Brian countered.

Jihyo scoffed, "I'm a wimp? Look at you! You're pining over-"

"Okay okay. Enough of that." His mom said, silencing them both. "Younghyun, Jihyo, I hope you guys do something about your crushes. Even your 17 year old brother has a boyfriend. He has more guts than both of you combined."

The two oldest looked at their mom with mouth's gaped. Jisung snorted while their dad laughed. "How's the maids and chef been?" The dad asked changing the subject.

"They've been good like always." Brian lied.

"Oh good." His mom said.

"How have you both been?" Jihyo asked her parents.

"We've been good. It's been hectic like usual, but I'm just glad I'm finally home and get to sleep in my own bed and spend time with my kids." His dad said.

"I wish you could stay longer though." Jisung said quietly.

His parents looked at him with apologetic eyes, "Me too bud." His mom said.

-

After spending the whole day with his family, Jisung was finally sitting on his bed alone. He opened his laptop and FaceTimed his boyfriend.

Minho answered after a ring, he was sitting at his desk. He smiled once he saw his boyfriend's face, "Hey babe." Minho greeted.

"Hey, we're still on for tomorrow right?" Jisung asked.

Minho gave a confused look, "On for tomorrow? We were doing something tomorrow?"

Jisung glared at his boyfriend, "Shut up."

The gang member started laughing, "Yes of course we're still on for tomorrow."

"Ok good because you're meeting my parents." Jisung said as if it was nothing.

Minho, on the other hand, opened his eyes wide. "I'm sorry what? Your parents are home?"

Jisung laughed a little, "Yeah my parents came home today which is why I barely texted you. They are very eager to meet you and my dad said that he wanted to meet you tomorrow so."

"Babe! You're telling me this now? Oh my god I have to go out and buy a new outfit, like a suit and tie or something."

Jisung narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend, "Don't you have dozens of suits?"

"Yes, but that's for work. I need something fresh and new. Should I go buy them gifts? Like something expensive?"

"Babe! Calm down, you don't have to wear a suit just to meet my parents. And no you don't have to buy them anything, please don't. It's going to be a brief meeting, like you did with my siblings, nothing special."

"Baby, I am meeting your parents and you expect me to be calm?"

"Minho being nervous? That's a first." The smaller snorted, earning a slight glare from his boyfriend. Jisung continued, "My parents aren't scary, they aren't going to interrogate you. They might ask a few questions but I'll be there to help you out."

"I'm still nervous." Minho mumbled and Jisung rolled his eyes.

-

Jisung woke up the next day excited because he was going to hang out with Minho today. The gang member woke up with his heart beating in his ass because he had to meet Jisung's parents, but it was going to happen sooner or later.

Jisung got ready and walked downstairs, into the living room. His parents were sitting at the dinner table, drinking coffee while his siblings were sitting on the couch, watching some movie.

Jisung sat down at the table and his parents looked at him. "Where are you going?" His mom asked.

"Nowhere. Minho's coming, remember?" Jisung said with his eyebrow raised.

"Well I didn't forget." His dad said, "I've been waiting for this moment."

"Dad please, don't scare him away or make him more nervous than he already is." Jisung begged.

"I'm not going to scare the guy away." His dad said with his hands up in defense, but Jisung was still skeptical.

"Don't worry honey, I'll make sure your father won't scare your boyfriend away." His mom reassured.

"And please don't say anything that'll make him uncomfortable or anything that'll embarrass me."

"Yeah yeah don't worry, I won't ask anything that'll make him uncomfortable. But I'm not making any promises that I won't say anything that'll embarrass you." His dad smiled.

Jisung looked at his mom for help but she said, "Yeah I can't make any promises either." The boy groaned in regret.

"We should all interrogate him." Brian offered the idea.

"Definitely not. You already met him." Jisung shook his head.

"So? We need to scare him a little bit before we welcome him to the family."

"Don't worry, I've got that covered." His dad said.

Jisung looked at his dad in betrayal, "You just said that you weren't going to scare him."

"I won't scare him _away _but I gotta scare him just a little bit."

"Jisung calm down, nothing bad is gonna happen. You'll still have a boyfriend by the end of it." Jihyo joined the conversation.

"I can't wait until _you_ bring Daniel home." Jisung glared at his sister and she glared at him back.

"Jisung I promise that I'll make sure your father will not traumatize your boyfriend."

Jisung honestly didn't know why he was nervous for his boyfriend, it's Lee Minho they're talking about. He was going to be fine, definitely not going to be scared, maybe a little nervous and intimidated since it was his boyfriend's parents, but not scared.

Just then the gate buzzer went off.

"Oh would you look at that! Seems like it's time to meet your boyfriend." His mom said excited.

Jisung walked over to the monitor and buzzed Minho in. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Jisung looked at his family.

"We'll be in the living room." His mom said before his parents walked to their destination.

"We just want to say hi to Minho." Brian said.

Jisung sighed and opened his front door, revealing his boyfriend who looked good like always. He broke into a smile once he saw Jisung which he always did subconsciously.

"Are you ready?" Jisung asked.

"I hope so." Minho replied.

"You'll be fine, I promise. I'll be there with you." Jisung said as he opened the door wider and invited his boyfriend inside.

"Minho! How have you been." Jihyo asked.

"I've been better." He mumbled from nerves.

"Don't worry, our parents aren't scary." Brian said and Minho gave a weak smile, still nervous.

"They're waiting in the living room." Jisung grabbed Minho's hand and guided them to their destination.

"Mom, dad," Jisung said once they were at the living room, getting his parents' attention. "This is Minho, my boyfriend." Jisung introduced, Minho bowed respectively.

His parents got up from the couch and walked up to them. "Hi Minho!" His mom said smiling.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Han." Minho smiled back.

"Jisung please leave us. We would like to speak with Minho alone." His dad spoke. Minho inhaled sharply.

Jisung looked at his dad with a look of shock, "Huh? You want me to go?"

"Yes."

Jisung's mom secretly rolled her eyes at her husbands attempt at being intimidating. Jisung narrowed his eyes at his dad as to say, _'don't do anything'._

"Okay..." Jisung turned to his boyfriend, whispering in his ear, "You'll be fine, don't be nervous." He then left the room, leaving Minho alone with his parents.

"So Minho, how'd you meet my son?" Jisung's dad asked.

"We sit right next to each other in class." Minho answered as politely as he could.

"Oh I see. What do you do outside of school?"

"Nothing much, I study and do homework. When I have time, I hang out with my friends or hang out with Jisung." He technically wasn't lying, he just wasn't telling the full truth.

"Interesting. What're your intentions with my son?" Jisung's dad gave Minho a kind of look that said, _'be careful with your next words'_.

"Nothing bad, I respect your son so much sir. I just want to love him and make him feel loved. I want to make him as happy as he makes me and be there for him when he needs someone."

"But why my son?" It was almost like Jisung's dad didn't think Minho was good enough for his son and was waiting for him to crack. Minho knew that Jisung definitely deserved better than him, but he was determined to show the parents that he would try his hardest to be the best for their son.

"Jisung is such a nice and caring person. He really brings out the best in people and he sees the best in people which makes him special. You don't meet someone like him very often. He makes me really happy and brightens my mood everyday. I just want to protect him and keep him safe all the time. And like I mentioned before, I want to make him happy too and be enough for him." Minho smiled, he could've gone on for hours about why he likes Jisung.

"Okay, okay," Jisung's mom said. "Enough with the intimidating dad act." She said to her husband, causing him to laugh. Minho looked at them with confused eyes.

"We can see how much you genuinely love our son. We can confirm that you already make Jisung so happy and that's all we ask from you and all we want for our son." Jisung's dad said.

"We know you're perfect for him." The mom said. "Welcome to the family Minho!" She pulled him into a tight hug. The boy smiled and hugged back.

"Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Han." Minho said beaming.

"Oh please, call us mom and dad." Jisung's mom smiled.

Minho felt a warm feeling in his heart. He was truly happy and couldn't stop smiling.

-

When Jisung got kicked out of the conversation with his boyfriend and his parents, he walked up to his room and sat at his desk. He pulled out his phone and texted his friends.

**jisung**  
what's up guys

**seungmean**  
how's it with your  
parents being home

**yongyongbokie**  
yeah tell us about that

**jisung**  
they wanted to meet  
minho

**yongyongbokie**  
oh—

**the child**  
when are they meeting

**jisung**  
today

**yongyongbokie**  
today?! what time ?

**jisung**  
about two minutes ago

**the child**  
huh ?

**jisung**  
they're meeting right now

**seungmean**  
how come you're texting  
us then ??

**jisung**  
my dad kicked me out of the   
conversation because he wanted  
to talk to minho alone so now my  
parents are with minho alone and   
i'm praying that everything goes good  
and i'm not embarrassed by the end

**the child**  
he wanted to talk to him  
alone?   
about what?

**jisung**  
before minho showed up to my house  
my dad was talking about scaring him   
a little bit before they welcome him to the  
family, so he's probs acting all intimidating rn

**yongyongbokie**  
HAHAHAHA  
i wish i was there to see that

**the child**  
your dad's the nicest  
i can't imagine him being  
intimidating, like at all

**seungmean**  
i hope your dad embarrasses you

**jisung**  
you know what bitch come back  
to me when hyunjin meets your parents

**seungmean**  
touché

Jisung's bedroom door opened and in popped Minho's head. He had a smile on his face and Jisung guessed that the talk went well. He texted a quick goodbye to his friends before he faced his boyfriend who sat on his bed.

"So how'd that go?" Jisung asked.

"It went fine. Your dad asked me generic questions that a father would ask their child's significant other. After that your mom told your dad to quit the act and then your dad smiled at me for the first time and they welcomed me to the family."

Jisung smiled while he walked over to Minho, stopping in front of him. He placed his hands on each side of his boyfriend's cheeks, he leaned down and pecked Minho's lips. "Welcome to the family babe."

The gang member grabbed Jisung's waist and pulled the boy onto his lap, causing him to help in surprise. Minho hugged his boyfriend and fell back onto the bed. "You have no idea how happy I am." He mumbled.

"You're wrong." Jisung whispered.

The rest of the day they spent together. It was a chill day, they just sat and watched movies or talked while cuddling.

-

The next day, Jisung woke up missing Minho. Today they didn't have any school because it was a teacher work day. They were going to see each other the next day so the boy had to be patient. He walked downstairs and saw his mom sitting on the couch.

"Hey mom." Jisung greeted.

"Oh Jisung! One of my coworkers is coming over for dinner tonight so I need you to dress nicely." His mom explained.

"Who is it?"

"Park Taeyou. She's been one of my coworkers for a while now and she wanted to meet you guys so she's coming over with her two children."

"Oh fun." Jisung said sarcastically.

His mom laughed, "It won't be that bad. It's just for dinner."

"Yeah I guess." Jisung sighed.

-

It was seven o'clock and Jisung was just about done getting ready. He wore a dress shirt and some nice pants. He styled his hair for once.

_It's just a dinner. Get your introverted ass out there and talk to new people for once. It's not going to be horrible. _Jisung thought to himself.

He heard a knock on his bedroom door before it opened. His mom's head popped inside and said, "Come on, the guests are here, it's time to eat."

Jisung nodded and walked with his mom to the stairs. "You look nice." She said.

Jisung chuckled, "Thanks mom, it's because you told me to dress nicely."

While walking to the dining room, his mom said, "You know, one of my coworker's son is your age and he goes to your school."

They walked into the dining room with the guests, "Oh really? Who could it b-" Jisung stopped his sentence when he made eye contact with the son who was sitting at the table, smiling almost mockingly at him.

Jisung couldn't believe his eyes, it had to be playing tricks, but sadly no, it was reality.

"Moonjin?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how do you guys feel about moonjin being at the dinner?
> 
> next chapter is gonna be fun because it's about to get interestinggggg :)
> 
> in the next chapter:  
-better together  
-sis snapped  
-i can't
> 
> tell me what you think is going to happen in the next chapter :)


	37. t h i r t y s i x .

_While walking to the dining room, his mom said, "You know, one of my coworker's son is your age and he goes to your school."_

_They walked into the dining room with the guests, "Oh really? Who could it b-" Jisung stopped his sentence when he made eye contact with the son who was sitting at the table, smiling almost mockingly at him._

_"Moonjin?!"_

"Hey Jisung." He replied, waving.

"Oh you two already know each other?" Jisung's mom said with delight.

Jisung couldn't speak, he couldn't move, he was too shocked. There was absolutely no way that Moonjin was the son of the women who was coworkers with his mom. There was absolutely _no way_ that the person who stalked and threatened him, was sitting at his dinner table, invited.

"Yeah we do! Actually we're partners for a science project." Moonjin said with such politeness, it could've fooled anyone and it fooled Jisung at first, but he knew better now. He knew the dark truth behind Moonjin's fake innocence.

"Oh so you guys must be friends already." Moonjin's mom said.

"Yeah we are!"

"Jisung?" His mom called out. The boy hadn't even noticed that he was zoned out until his mom called his name. He looked around the table and everyone was looking at him. Jisung's eyes landed on his mom and he smiled before he sat at the dinner table next to his sister.

Jihyo stared at her younger brother and he could feel her gaze, but he ignored it. She knew something was wrong with Jisung. It happened when he saw Moonjin sitting at their dinner table. She saw how his face went pale and how his mouth parted open in shock. Jisung knew something about Moonjin that no one else knew, but what was it?

Jisung looked around the table. He sat in between his dad and sister, his mom and his brother sat at either end of the table. In front of him was Moonjin and he sat in between his younger brother and mother. The chef had already set out the food and drinks in front of them, but Jisung didn't have an appetite with Moonjin sitting right in front of him.

"I'm sorry that my husband couldn't be here today, he has things to do in the office unfortunately." Moonjin's mom apologized.

"Oh no that's okay! Maybe we can have dinner again, but with him there." Jisung's dad replied.

Jisung hoped and prayed that that would never happen. He didn't know if he would be able to sit in front of Moonjin again.

"I never introduced them, but these are my children, Moonjin and Taehong."

_You adopted the devil and you don't even know. _Jisung thought to himself.

"Ah these are my children, Younghyun, Jihyo and Jisung."

"So how do you know each other?" Moonjin asked rhetorically because he already knew.

"Your mom and I have been coworkers for a while now." Jisung's mom answered. "We've been wanting our families to meet each other, but we never had the time to until now."

"Moonjin, how do you like JYP High School?" Jisung's dad asked.

"Ah it's nice so far. I just transferred to JYP and everyone's been really welcoming of course. I got really lucky to be partnered with Jisung for my first project." Moonjin smiled.

Jisung gripped his chopsticks harder._You're the one who asked the teachers to be my fucking partner._

"Oh you transferred? From where?"

"I used to go to Big Hit High School."

"How come you transferred to JYP? What made you go there?" Jihyo asked.

"JYP is a popular school with a lot of talented and smart people. I also heard they had the best teachers so I thought it would be better for me to get an education there." Moonjin shrugged.

"In the middle of the year?" She subtly interrogated. Jihyo didn't trust Moonjin at all after seeing Jisung's reaction to him.

"It took a while for my waver to go through." He shrugged.

"Jisung!" Moonjin's mom said a little loudly, spooking the mentioned boy. "I heard that you're the smartest person at JYP High school. I heard that you finish top at your school with exam scores every year."

Jisung slightly nodded. He hated when people mentioned his achievements, he didn't know how to react to their commentary and felt awkward. "Um yeah I am." He rubbed the back of his nape out of embarrassment.

"Maybe you can tutor Moonjin or something. He could use more help."

_Please no please no PLEASE NO!_

"Mom!" Moonjin said, acting like he couldn't believe that his mom just exposed him, but inside he was thankful for that because it could help him with his plan.

"What? I'm sorry sweetie but you could get a little help." Moonjin's mom said.

"I think that's a great idea." Jisung's mom agreed and that made Jisung want to die. He looked down, not saying anything because he didn't want to be rude to Moonjin's mom and deny the request she's given.

Jihyo noticed her brother's reaction and butted into the conversation. "Uh, I doubt Jisung has any time to tutor anyone with all the workload he's got. Especially in junior year, he barely gets any sleep with all the studying he has to do himself."

Jisung looked up at his sister with such grateful eyes and she winked at him.

"Oh, well maybe when you have time you can tutor Moonjin." The guest said.

"Um yeah, I'll tutor him if I have the time to." Jisung nodded.

Moonjin narrowed his eyes at Jihyo, cursing her for ruining making his plan harder. Then he looked back at Jisung with a smile, "When're we going to work on our science project?"

Jisung didn't even spare a glance at the boy in front of him, he kept his focus on the food he was barely eating, "Whenever you want."

"Great! Let's do it at my house sometime this week." Moonjin said.

"Uh actually, let's do it at the library."

Moonjin raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

Jisung shrugged, "Because the library has a lot of resources we could use for research and stuff."

"Oh that's a good idea. Work at the library." Jisung's mom agreed.

Moonjin gripped his chopsticks so tight that if they were wood then they would've snapped. He took a deep breath and smiled again, "Okay then, the library it is."

"What college do you two go to?" The guest asked Jihyo and Brian.

"Oh we both go to Seoul University." Brian answered.

"Both? Wow you guys must be really smart too!"

"Eh I guess." Brian shrugged, not liking when people mentioned their smartness too.

"What are you guys studying?" Moonjin asked.

"We're both in the performing arts program. We're both in music."

"Oh, that's too bad you're throwing your smartness away so you can study something like _music_." Moonjin's mom shrugged.

Jihyo felt her eye twitch, she was about to stand up, jump over the table and pounce at the guest. Jisung and Brian had both noticed her energy and her facial expression. The oldest sibling placed a hand on her arm, warning her and to tell her to calm down.

"They aren't throwing away their smartness to study music." Jisung's dad said a bit protectively.

"Younghyun and Jihyo still study as hard as any other student at the university, probably even harder than them." Jisung's mom argued and Moonjin's mom nodded.

"So Taehong, do you do any sports?" Jisung's dad asked the youngest.

Taehong, who didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation at all and instead focused on the food in front of him, looked up for the first time. "Can you repeat the question please?"

"Do you play any sports?"

"Yes I do! Tennis is my favorite sport and I love playing it." He smiled.

Brian secretly scoffed, but Jisung and Jihyo saw his reaction and rolled their eyes at him. "What grade are you in?" Jihyo asked the boy.

"Seventh." Taehong answered.

"Must be nice." Jisung muttered under his breath.

"Do you like the seventh grade?"

"No I hate it. It's hard and boring." Taehong pouted.

_Hard my ass. Just wait till you get into junior year._

"So Jisung, are you dating anyone?" Moonjin's mom asked out of nowhere which caught Jisung off guard. Who asks that? Such a random question.

Jisung looked at the mom for a second before answering, "Yes I am, his name's Minho."

Moonjin's mom narrowed her eyes at Jisung, almost like she was observing him if he was lying or not. "Hmmm interesting." She said.

Jisung was beyond confused at her reaction. What the heck was that response?

Moonjin leaned up and whispered something in his mother's ear. After he was done, his mom nodded her head saying, "Yeah I definitely agree with you."

Jisung's family all looked at each other confused. What did Moonjin whisper to his mom and why does she agree? Taehong, on the other hand, stopped paying attention to the conversation once the focus wasn't on him anymore and went back to eating his food.

"Agree with what?" Jisung's mom asked.

Moonjin's mom jumped and turned to his mom, as if she forgot that they were still there. "Oh it's nothing." The mom waved it off and Moonjin just giggled.

"No tell us. Now I'm really curious."

The guest looked at Jisung's mom for a second before saying, "Oh alright. Moonjin just told me that he thinks he would be a better boyfriend for Jisung and that he would be a better fit for him instead of this Minho kid. That Jisung and Moonjin would make a cuter couple and I agreed." She shrugged as if what she said was nothing.

Jisung tensed up and sharply inhaled. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, all he wanted to do was leave this conversation and leave his household to get as far away from Moonjin as possible. He wanted to be with Minho and to forget about this conversation. How could Moonjin have the audacity to say that? Why was Jisung even surprised.

Jihyo noticed her little brother's change in energy. She knew that Jisung got uncomfortable from the commentary. In fact, her whole family froze at what was said, they didn't know how to respond back to that. Everyone felt awkward.

Jihyo couldn't take it anymore. She slammed her hands on the table and stood up. "Jisung is dating an amazing person who already makes him really happy. I wouldn't want anyone else for my little brother other than Minho. They are the cutest couple I've ever seen and Moonjin doesn't even compare to Minho. Your son doesn't have any chance with Jisung so don't even think about it. Please don't ever say that again because it'll never happen so forget it."

It went dead silent. Everyone, including Taehong, looked at Jihyo with wide eyes. Moonjin's mom looked speechless and embarrassed.

"Jihyo." Jisung's mom said, the tone in her voice sounded like she was punishing the girl.

"I did nothing wrong. They ignored the fact that Jisung already has a boyfriend which is so disrespectful to Jisung _and_ Minho. I wasn't going to just sit around and let them get away with it."

"I think Jihyo did the right thing." Jisung's dad shrugged and Jihyo smiled at her dad. Jisung whipped his head to his dad with shock.

"I get that, but maybe lashing out isn't the best thing to do." Jisung's mom said.

Jihyo sat back down at her seat and Jisung looked at her with a big smile and thankfulness in his eyes. She looked over at her younger brother and smiled back, winking at him again. Jisung felt his heart get warm at the fact that his sister stood up for not just him but him _and_ Minho. Brian, on the other hand, high fived his sister for what she did.

Jisung's mom turned to Moonjin's mom. "I'm sorry for that."

"Oh no it's, okay." Moonjin's mom replied.

"_But, _Jihyo's right. Jisung is already dating someone who is amazing and caring. Someone who's perfect for him and, like my daughter said, me and my husband wouldn't want anyone else for Jisung other than Minho. So please, don't _ever_ say that your son is better for my son when he's already dating the best. Don't act like you know what's best for _my_ son when you know nothing about him." Jisung's mom snapped, making Jisung gleam at his mom. The support he was getting from his family members was making his heart soft and making him extremely happy.

The guest nodded and looked at her food, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone and get even more embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry."

Taehong shrugged and went back to eating while Moonjin clenched his jaw. _What makes Minho so much better than me? They barely even know me and they still think that Minho's better. Bullshit._

_-_

After Jihyo's little explosion, the dinner went by quickly and quietly. Moonjin's mom definitely wanted to leave as soon as possible because she was absolutely embarrassed from what Jihyo and Jisung's mom said. Moonjin stayed quiet for the most part which made Jisung very uncomfortable. What could he be thinking about?

It was finally Tuesday and Jisung was able to see Minho again. After what happened the day before at the dinner, he just wanted to see his boyfriend. Minho didn't know what happened at dinner yet, he only knew about the dinner and very vague details. Jisung hadn't told him or his friends about it, but he was planning on doing it today.

Jisung ran up and hugged his boyfriend which took him by surprise. "Woah, hey there." Minho smiled.

"Hey." Jisung said as he looked up at his boyfriend, returning the smile, he missed the other's touch. Jisung looked around the circle and saw everyone there. He was happy being with everyone.

"Why are you so happy?" Seungmin asked him.

"What I can't be happy?" Jisung asked back.

"No, your smile is creeping me out." Seungmin joked and acted like he meant it which only made Jisung smile more because he knew his friend wasn't being serious. The taller boy broke into a laugh, breaking his act.

"I think your smile is beautiful." Minho said as a matter of factly which made Jisung blush a little.

Even after dating for several months, Minho was still able to turn Jisung into a blushing mess with just a simple compliment.

-

At lunch, Jisung asked Minho to go up to the rooftop with him so he could tell his boyfriend about the dinner he had to sit through against his will. Currently they were sitting at the rooftop, looking at the view.

"How'd the dinner go yesterday?" Minho asked.

Jisung lifted his head up from his boyfriend's shoulder and turned his body towards Minho. "I told you that my mom's coworker was going to come over for dinner right?" Minho nodded and Jisung continued, "She has two sons, Taehong and... uh..."

Minho looked at Jisung with an eyebrow raised, "and...?"

Jisung looked down. "And Moonjin."

Minho immediately tensed up. He looked worriedly at Jisung, checking intensely for any bruises or cuts or anything that would show that Moonjin laid a finger on him.

"Minho, I'm fine. Moonjin didn't hurt me or go near me really." Jisung reassured.

"Did he say anything to you or something?" Minho asked worried.

The boy hesitated, he wasn't exactly ecstatic to see Minho's reaction to what Moonjin said at the dinner. "Uh, first, he told my mom and his mom that me and him were friends, which isn't that big of a deal. Second, he asked if we could work on our science project at his house."

Minho narrowed his eyes and Jisung quickly continued, "But I rejected and said that we were going to work on the project at the library and thank god my mom agreed with what I said. We're working on it sometime this week."

"Looks like me and Changbin are gonna work on our project at the library sometime this week too." Minho said making Jisung snort. "Please tell me that's all he said."

Jisung gave a weak smile and slightly shook his head. "Out of nowhere, Moonjin's mom asked me if I was dating anyone and I said that I was dating you. After I answered, Moonjin whispered something to his mom and she said 'yeah I agree' or something like that. My mom asked what she agreed with and Moonjin's mom said that Moonjin whispered in her ear saying that he would be a better boyfriend for me and that he's a better fit for me and that me and him would make a cuter couple than you and I. Moonjin's mom agreed with it."

Minho abruptly stood up from his seated position with his fists balled up and his knuckles turning pale. There was smoke coming out of his ears and fire in his eyes. His jaw was clenched and his focus was on the door as he marched towards it, muttering, "I'm gonna kill him."

Jisung quickly grabbed Minho's wrist and stopped him, but the boy didn't turn around. The shorter walked in front of Minho and placed his hand on his boyfriend's cheek, attempting to calm the latter down.

"Stop it. Don't listen to him, he's just trying to get inside my head and your head. Don't let him do that. I love _you_ only, don't forget it." Jisung said gently. When he was done, Minho's facial expression softened as he looked down at his boyfriend with love. He gave Jisung a kiss.

"I love you too." He whispered back when they pulled apart.

"I know." Jisung smiled.

-

After school was over, Minho waited for Jisung to finish packing up like usual. "The gang has an emergency meeting after school so I can't take you home, but I want you to text me the moment you get home so I know you're safe."

Jisung pouted. Usually Felix, Seungmin, Jeongin, and him walked home together everyday, but since Moonjin came into the picture with the threats and everything, their boyfriends swore to driving them home from now on. Jisung was getting used to riding with his boyfriend.

"I promise I'll text you." Jisung said.

"Don't pout, I'm taking you home tomorrow and all the days after tomorrow." Minho smiled, trying to cheer up his sad boyfriend.

"Yeah you're right. Now go, Chan hyung's probably not happy with how much you're making him wait." Jisung chuckled.

Minho gave him one last kiss before he bid goodbye with him and left with the other two boys. Jisung turned to Seungmin and Felix, "I have a lot to tell you guys."

Jisung, Seungmin, Felix and Jeongin quickly walked to Jisung's home. He texted Minho once he arrived at his house. His friends greeted his parents and talked with them for like five minutes before Jisung dragged them up towards his bedroom. The shortest sat on his bed and the rest came huddling in.

"What do you need to tell us?" Felix asked.

"You know how I had a dinner yesterday with my mom's coworker?" The three nodded and Jisung took a deep breath before continuing, "Well the coworker has two sons, one of them was Moonjin."

Jeongin gasped, Felix's jaw dropped and Seungmin's eye widened. "You're telling me that Moonjin is the son of your mom's coworker?" Seungmin asked, not believing the words coming out of his mouth.

"Yep, I know, I froze in shock when I saw him. And surprisingly the dinner started off okay, but then Moonjin's mom started asking me questions and one of the questions was if I was dating someone."

"Why the hell would she care?" Seungmin thought out loud.

"That's what I was thinking too, but I said that I was dating Minho and Moonjin whispered something in his mom's ear and his mom agree with whatever he said. My mom asked her what she was agreeing with and fucking Moonjin whispered to her that he would be a better boyfriend for me and that him and I would make a cuter couple compared to me and Minho, which was absolute bullshit and I wanted to die the moment he said that."

"I'm sorry, he said _what_?" Jeongin couldn't believe the audacity of Moonjin.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" Felix said angrily.

"Please tell me someone said something about that." Seungmin prayed.

"Yeah Jihyo noona and my mom went off on Moonjin's mom." Jisung said.

"Oh thank the lord." Felix said.

"How'd Moonjin and his mom react?" Jeongin asked.

"They stayed quiet for the rest of the dinner, maybe talked a few times and barely looked up from their plates. The dinner didn't last long after that, thankfully."

"I can't believe that's the same fucking person who threatened you and followed us. He seemed so intimidating in the letter, but at the dinner he seemed so weak." Felix observed.

"It's because there were adults there. He obviously would act like he's innocent and that nothing is mentally wrong with him. It's all an act." Seungmin said.

Jisung nodded, "He acted so polite and obviously it fooled my parents and his mom. Hell, it even fooled us in the beginning."

"Little bastard." Seungmin mumbled.

-

The next day when Jisung went to school, he saw everyone there except for his boyfriend which confused him. Why was Minho not there when Yedam, Chan and everyone else in the gang was there? Jisung quickly checked his phone to see if he missed any texts from Minho, but there were none.

Jisung walked up to the group with a frown. "Where's Minho?" He asked.

Chan, Woojin, Hyunjin, Changbin, and Yedam all looked at each other, almost as if they were choosing who was going to tell Jisung. "Minho's home, he barely got any sleep last night so he's sleeping in a little bit. He'll be here sometime after lunch though." Chan explained.

"Oh okay." Jisung said. He had questions he wanted to ask like why did he barely get sleep last night? But he chose to wait until Minho came to school to ask him.

The school day went by slowly without his boyfriend. Lunch was especially the worst. He felt like he was 9th wheeling and he just wanted to see his boyfriend. Jisung opened his phone and sent a quick message to Minho.

**jisung**  
i hope you're resting well  
i miss you a lot and i   
can't wait to see you soon  
i love you

Jisung turned off his phone and sighed.

During the last period of the day was when Minho walked into the classroom and Jisung felt his heart speed up with happiness, but that was quickly replaced with worry. Minho sat at his seat and quickly peaked over to his boyfriend smiling and saying hi. But something was off, Jisung could tell, that smile was forced. He let the thought go, thinking he was just overreacting.

Near the end of the class, Jisung saw Minho's hands and almost gasped out loud. Bruises and cuts covered his knuckles. The sight isn't anything foreign to Jisung, but he's never seen his boyfriend's hands _that _brutal.

_Why the hell are they bruised so badly? No one else in the gang even has their hands bruised? What did you do Lee Minho?_

Once class was over, Minho waited for Jisung like usual. Right when Jisung was done, Minho grabbed his hand and pulled him to his car.

The ride was silent, which was odd, it was never silent when Minho dropped Jisung home, they usually talked the whole time. When Minho pulled into Jisung's driveway, he parked the car and sighed.

"How come you barely got sleep last night?" Jisung spoke finally.

"I had a lot going in my mind and I couldn't go to sleep." Minho answered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jisung asked softly.

Minho shook his head, "I've already gotten them organized."

Jisung slumped in his seat, "What's wrong with your hand babe?"

Minho sucked in his breath, "I punched a few things out of frustration, but I'm fine."

"Are you sure? It looks really painful. Come inside I can bandage and ice them for yo-"

"Jisung stop." Minho interrupted and the boy quickly closed his mouth confused. "I can't." He said making Jisung even more confused.

"Oh okay, at least have Woojin hyung bandage them up for you when you get home."

Minho took a deep breath before saying, "No, Jisung, I can't do us anymore. I want to break up with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry for this cliffhanger. you have every right to hate me because i would hate myself too.
> 
> ummm so opinions on this chapter?...
> 
> I FEEL REALLY BAD FOR ENDING THE CHAPTER LIKE THIS BUT I HAD TO. i can already feel your hatred.
> 
> we going ✈️ a little angst, BUT before you cry, pls just trust me with this :)
> 
> lmao imagine if i just stopped updating this story. haha jk... unless? no i'm joking, i already have the next chapter written out, just gotta edit it :) see you monday !
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- fell out of it  
\- oh that's too bad  
\- denial
> 
> tell me what you think is going to happen in the next chapter :)


	38. t h i r t y s e v e n .

_Minho took a deep breath before saying, "No, Jisung, I can't do us anymore. I want to break up with you."_

Jisung blinked and felt his chest tighten. He definitely didn't just hear Minho correctly. "What?" He whispered.

Minho looked down, "I want to break up with you Jisung. I don't want to be your boyfriend anymore."

Jisung felt his heart stop beating, he felt the world stop, it seemed like any second now, the world was going to end because that's what was happening, Jisung's world was ending. Minho hasn't called him by his first name in a long time and it felt foreign hearing him say it.

"You're lying." Jisung said, not sure if he was saying that because he believed it or because he wanted it to be the truth.

"I'm not. I'm sick of you and I don't enjoy hanging out with you anymore." Minho shrugged.

Jisung felt like a hand ripped into his chest. "Y-you told me that you loved me yesterday." He felt a tear leave his eyes which was the first of many.

"I only said that so you wouldn't be suspicious of anything. I did love you, but I fell out of it. It happens. I've been doing a lot of thinking and I've just realized that Hwajoon was right. I need someone who's a better fit for me, someone who isn't weighing me down." The gang member said nonchalantly. It seemed like he didn't know the amount of venom held in the words he had just said.

_Fell out. Better fit. Weighing down. _These words echoed through Jisung's mind and he wished he never heard them leave the mouth of boy he loves. He felt the hand in his chest harshly grab his heart.

"You don't really want this. You're doing this because you think it'll be safer for me to leave you." This had to be the only reasonable answer. "I told you that I don't care if it's safer for me to not be with you, I still want to—"

"Jisung not everything's about you. I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for me because I can't keep acting like I love you when I don't anymore. It's suffocating and a waste of my time. I don't think I can put this act up for any longer, it makes me sick."

Jisung felt the tears streaming down his face, pick up their speed as more fell. He closed his eyes, wishing to wake up from this nightmare. He prayed that when he opened his eyes he would see the ceiling of his room, but when he opened his eyes, he was still in Minho's car.

"If you mean it, then look me in the eye and tell me that you no longer want to be with me." Jisung said with his voice cracking. _If he really loves me then he wouldn't be able to do that. Right? _Jisung silently begged the other to not do it.

Minho sighed, he looked directly into Jisung's eyes. The gang member felt his heart break. He wanted to wipe the tears off Jisung's face and hug the love of his life and apologize for being the reason for the tears, but he stayed strong. "I don't love you anymore and I would love to stop being your boyfriend." He said without batting an eye.

Jisung felt the hand yank his heart out of his body. He wiped the tears on his face, but it was useless because the wiped tears were immediately replaced with new ones. "Okay. From this point on, we are no longer together." Jisung barely got the words out of his mouth. His voice cracked and was very shaky. He quickly opened the door of Minho's car and ran out, running into his house, never looking back.

Minho drove down the street and park his car on the side. He slammed his hands on the steering wheel. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration and slumped in the seat, letting a few tears fall down his face. _Jisung I'm so sorry, but I had to do it for your own good._

Minho drove home and didn't answer anyone's questions when he entered his home. He ignored everyone and locked himself in his room, crying for the first time since he was seven.

-

**The day before**

When Minho left the classroom after telling Jisung that he had gang things to do, he was actually finding someone. He didn't have any gang emergency, that was a white lie. Instead he stayed at school wanting to talk to the guy who's been creating trouble for him. He had the gang lie for him so he could do this. Minho stayed at school while the others went home.

Minho walked around the school campus before he saw the man he was looking for. "What the hell are you doing?"

Moonjin wasn't surprised by the voice, "Uh, I'm packing up?" He said while he zipping up his backpack.

Minho slammed the locker shut, "Cut the bullshit, what the hell are you trying to do."

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Moonjin smiled.

"I know you were the one who sent that envelope to Jisung." Minho said through a clenched jaw.

"Maybe I am, maybe not."

"You and I both know that you wouldn't be able to take Jisung as long as he's near me because I would beat your ass easily."

"That may be true, but what are you going to do me when I have Jisung in my hands? Nothing because I'll be able to kill him immediately." Moonjin smirked.

Minho slammed his hand on the locker, "What the hell makes you think that you'll be able to even touch Jisung?"

"You probably already know, but my mom and his mom are friends. I could easily ask my mom to talk to Jisung's mom to get him to tutor me or something." Minho stayed quiet and Moonjin continued, "But I won't hurt him if you do something for me."

"Why would I want to do anything for you?" Minho growled.

"Because Jisung's safety is on the line here." Minho glared at Moonjin, "I want you to break up with Jisung."

Minho scoffed, "I'm never doing that. I would rather die."

Moonjin shrugged. "Oh, but that's too bad, your life's not on the line, it's Jisung's life."

"How the fuck am I supposed to trust your word?"

Moonjin rolled his eyes, "Minho I don't want to hurt Jisung because I just want to hurt him. I only want to hurt him because you will be in pain too. That's all I want, to see you in pain and suffering. Forcing you to not be with someone you love is the best sort of pain and suffering one can feel. Seeing you weak makes me happy."

Minho rolled his eyes, not believing a single word. "Then what the fuck was the envelope with that threatening letter with pictures that _you_ took when you followed them?"

Moonjin laughed, "To scare you. If you haven't noticed yet, I haven't followed Jisung ever since that night because I'm not interested in hurting him. But if it makes you feel better, I promise not to hurt your little Jisung." He said the last sentence in a baby voice, mocking Minho.

"Shut the fuck up, your promises mean nothing to me. I'm not going to break up with Jisung."

"Oh no? Hm." Moonjin opened up his phone and dialed his moms number, putting her on speaker phone.

"Hello?" His mom answered.

"Mom! I was wondering if you can talk to Jisung's mom and have her ask Jisung to tutor me tomorrow at our house? Tell them that I don't really understand what's happening in history."

"Oh sure honey, I'll tell her right now. She's actually next to me."

"Oh perfect! I can pick him up-"

"Alright stop." Minho demanded.

Moonjin smirked, "Oh wait never mind mom, I just realized I have something to do tomorrow."

"Are you sure? You should cancel your other plans, I think Jisung tutoring you is a good choice. I'm sure his mom thinks the same." His mom said.

"Yeah I'm sure mom. I can't cancel the plans."

"Okay... Bye honey." She said before hanging up.

Moonjin looked at the other, expecting him to say something. Minho closed his eyes, "Fine, I'll do it."

Moonjin smiled in satisfaction, "I'm giving you until tomorrow." He said before he left.

Minho drove home and when he arrived, he ran up to his room, locking himself inside. He didn't know what to do for once. Of course he had to break it off with the love of his life, but he didn't know if he would be able to do it. Minho yelled out in frustration and punched the wall. He paced back and forth his room, continuing to punch anything he could until his knuckles were numb.

He heard a knock on his bedroom door. "Leave." He demanded.

"Minho open this door right now before I do it for you." It was Chan's voice.

Minho breathed out in anger before he opened the door revealing a leader who wasn't very happy.

"What the hell is going on? Why are you punching my walls? God look at your hands."

Minho stayed silent and the older crossed his arms over his chest. "Spill."

Minho slumped on the floor in defeat. Tears brimmed his eyes, "I have to break up with..." He couldn't even finish the sentence, he couldn't say it out loud.

Chan's eyes widened. "What're you talking about?"

Minho explained everything that happened and Chan stayed quiet. "Minho I don't think this is the right decision."

"You think I want to do this? I don't have a choice. I can't risk Jisung getting hurt."

"Do you really think Moonjin will leave him alone?"

"I have to because it's the only choice." Minho replied defeated. Chan stayed quiet. "Hyung, I-I can't—how am I supposed to look at him while I'm breaking his heart. The only person that's hurting Jisung, is me, the person who he loves."

Chan sighed while he hugged the broken boy, "This is exactly what Moonjin wants."

"I'm going to school tomorrow at sixth period. I have to keep my time with him as minimal as possible or else I won't be able to, do it." Minho choked out.

Chan felt useless, he saw his best friend, his brother in such a state of despair and defeat. He's never seen him this hurt or this emotional in the many years of knowing Minho and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

-

**Present day**

When Minho was breaking Jisung's heart, it was definitely the hardest thing he had ever done. He would rather go through the years of torture he endured for the rest of his life than have to break the heart of someone he loved with his whole being. He couldn't even look at Jisung or else he would break and hug the boy. The amount of tears Jisung was producing was all Minho's fault. Whenever he heard the boy's voice crack, Minho wanted to punch himself in the face for causing that.

When Jisung asked Minho to look him in the eye and tell him that he didn't love him, the gang member tensed slightly. Jisung probably didn't notice from the tears that occupied his vision, but Minho was panicking. He didn't know if he was going to be able to pull through. He didn't want to see what he was doing to Jisung. He didn't want to see the tears he caused.

The only reason why Minho was able to do it was because it was for Jisung's safety. That didn't mean it was any less heartbreaking. When Minho made eye contact with the person he loved, he saw the absolute brokenness and the desperation of the whole situation being a lie in Jisung's eyes. He silently begged Minho with his eyes to not say those words and to hug him instead. And that made it that much harder for Minho to say the words, saying it felt like poison.

-

Jisung ran inside his household and shut the door, leaning his back against it and slid down. He sobbed his eyes out, gasping for air. The words replayed in his mind over and over again, _'I don't love you anymore and I would love to stop being your boyfriend'._

Jisung couldn't breathe, he felt like someone was standing on his chest, restricting his amount of air. He felt like his lungs stopped working. He felt so empty and like such an idiot. He knew that being with someone like Minho was too good to be true. Of course he would've figure out sooner or later that Jisung didn't deserve him.

"Jisung?" A voice called out from upstairs. Jisung knew someone said something, but his brain didn't process anything. It was all too much for him, his chest hurt, he couldn't breathe, and he felt dizzy. He heard the voice get farther and farther away from him. His vision became blurry and soon it went black.

-

The next thing Jisung knew, he was waking up in his bedroom. He looked around and saw his sister and brother standing next to the bed with worry engraved in their face.

"How are you feeling?" Jihyo asked softly.

Jisung put his hand to his chest trying to massage the pain away, but it seemed internal, "Exhausted. How come you guys are home early today?"

"We didn't have any extra practice today so we came home early. Just in time to send mom and dad off to the airport actually."

Jisung nodded, he was going to miss his parents, but he's been through this so many times it's like he's numb to the pain of them leaving for months again.

"Did something happen? You came home crying really hard and suddenly blacked out." Brian asked worried.

That's when everything came flowing back. The memories of Minho breaking his heart and not being fazed by it. The words that continued to repeat in his mind. _'I don't love you anymore and I would love to stop being your boyfriend.'_

Jisung slipped out more tears. He hid his face in his hands and cried. He felt the bed sink down lower as his sister's arms wrapped around him, pulling him into her embrace.

They sat like this for what seemed like hours but it was probably only five minutes. Jisung lifted his head and let out a shaky breath.

"M-Minho broke up with me." Jisung whispered, more tears strolling down his face. Saying those words out loud made it real. He never wanted to say those five words ever in his life.

"He what?" Brain said in shock.

"Why would he do that?" Jihyo asked more to herself than to Jisung.

"I think it's time for me to tell you the truth." Jisung said and his siblings have a confused look. He took a deep breath before continuing, "You know Stray Kids?"

"The really powerful gang?"

Jisung nodded slowly, "...Minho's apart of it. He actually the strongest person in Stray Kids."

He heard his siblings gasp and freeze. Jisung quickly added, "I-I don't want you guys to think differently of Minho though even if he's in a gang. Stray Kids aren't that bad, they only hurt people who deserve to be hurt. They're amazing people despite of what they do. And Minho... He's truly the sweetest person and..." Jisung stopped talking as he felt a sob coming. "I miss him." His voice cracked.

Brian and Jihyo stayed quiet for a bit, thinking about what was thrown at them. They were probably interacting with each other behind Jisung's back talking about their opinion and reactions. The silence drew Jisung crazy though, he was preparing himself for their screams.

"Minho's apart of Stray Kids? Oh god the amount of times I've probably looked like a fool in front of him." Jihyo finally said in embarrassment.

Jisung furrowed his eyebrows, "You're not mad at me?" He asked quietly.

"No, of course not. I'll be honest, at first I wanted to clock you in the neck and ask you what the hell you were thinking, but then I remembered how polite Minho was and I truly believe he's a good guy. Even though he's in a gang, I trust your judgement, and if you believe that he's a good guy then I'll believe it too. Besides he's never given me a reason for me to hate him, except right now because he made you cry." Brian said and Jihyo agreed making Jisung almost cried of joy.

"Don't be mad at him. I had it coming... I still love him so much though." Jisung looked down as he felt more tears coming. Jihyo frowned and hugged him again.

"It doesn't make sense. I saw how he looked at you like you were his entire world. He had the biggest smile every time he looked at you and I could tell he really cared for you." Jihyo commented.

"Not anymore." Jisung peeped between sobs.

"Maybe it's for the best." Brian said trying to cheer his brother up, but it only made Jisung cry harder. The oldest panicked and looked at his sister for help.

"Maybe he had a very good reason on why he broke up with you because I seriously doubt that the reason he broke it off was because he doesn't love you anymore. You don't lose feelings for someone that quickly. There's definitely a better explanation to it, something that you couldn't know so he made that lame ass excuse. I call bullshit."

Jisung wanted to believe her, so badly because it made sense, but at the same time Minho said those words so easily, Jisung didn't know what to believe. There was one thing for certain though, they were no longer together because Minho broke up with him and that was enough to make him cry for hours.

-

Jisung soon after texted his friends to come over for support. They rushed over to his house without any clue on what happened. When Jihyo opened the door, everyone looked at her. They noticed the tear stains on her shirt and guessed that it was from Jisung.

"What's wrong with Jisung?" Seungmin asked worried.

"He'll explain." Jihyo sighed. "He's in his room." She said as she opened the door wider for everyone to rush in and run to his room.

They all stopped at his door, hesitating to walk in. They didn't know what to expect or what state they were going to Jisung in. The three friends all looked at each other before Felix opened the door.

Jisung was in his bed, all cuddled up in his blanket. He had a box of tissues next to him and a pile of used tissues on the floor. He looked up at his friends with a quivering lip before he weeped even more. Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin rushed to Jisung's bedside.

"Talk to us hyung." Jeongin frowned.

Jisung gasped for air, sniffing every two seconds, "He broke up with me." He sobbed.

Everyone froze when Jisung said it. They thought they misheard their friend because there was absolutely no way that those words just came out of his mouth.

They quickly recovered from their shock and climbed onto the bed, giving him hugs. "What happened?" Felix asked softly.

Jisung explained the story for the second time through his tears and sobs. When he was done, all three friends were thinking the same thing, there is absolutely no way that Minho lost feelings for Jisung. That was impossible. So he definitely broke up with Jisung for another reason, but what?

"I don't care what the hell Minho said because it's all bullshit. He still loves you and he probably broke up with you to keep you safe or for another good reason that he couldn't say." Seungmin said.

"That's what Jihyo noona said too, but you should've been there. He said that he didn't love me anymore without blinking an eye. He said it so naturally like he's been waiting to say it."

"Hyung I seriously doubt it. That's not possible for Minho to stop liking you out of nowhere. He truly loves you with his whole life which is probably why he broke up with you, to keep you safe." Jeongin said.

"No I don't think so, he even said that wasn't the reason." Jisung choked on a sob. "It was only a matter of time before he realized how much better he is compared to me."

The friends sighed. They couldn't do anything to convince Jisung. His stubbornness at this point was impossible to compete with and so the three decided that they would just be there for Jisung and to make him feel loved when he felt like he wasn't worth anyone's love.

They just hoped and prayed that Jisung would get better soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry for breaking them up😣
> 
> opinions on Minho's decision?
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- why are you here?  
\- seungmin's done with the bullshit  
\- heartbroken
> 
> i feel like i should make my chapter clues harder bc some of you guys are very accurate 🤐
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	39. t h i r t y e i g h t .

Jisung spent the next few days crying himself to sleep. He barely even had the motivation to go to school, but somehow he still went. Minho never showed up to school though and Jisung didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He missed the boy immensely and just wanted to see him one more time, but at the same time if Minho did show up to school, it would be really awkward and Jisung would break down and cry the moment he saw him.

During lunch Jisung went up to the roof. He didn't have the mental strength to see Chan or anyone from the gang. Changbin and Hyunjin already tried to talk to Jisung, but the heartbroken boy just said the same thing, "I'm okay." and waved them off. Even though he was far from it.

Jisung payed attention in class and would work on the class work as much as he could. When he was finished, he would find some more worksheets to work on or he read a book. He never stopped working because if he did, then his mind would go right back to the person who sat on his right and he would most definitely cry. At home he was doing his homework or he was studying. He did anything to distract his mind. Jisung barely ate anything, he was too sad. His appetite was non existent and only ate when Jihyo forced him to eat. Sleeping was the worst time for him because that was the only time his mind rested which meant he was able to actually think about that night and that resulted in him crying. Jisung was surprised he hadn't run out of tears yet.

Everyone around him was worried about him. His three best friends especially. They wanted to follow Jisung up to the roof during lunch, but the sad boy wouldn't allow them too.

"Go eat with them, I don't want to ruin your mood with my sadness. I'll be fine, I actually prefer to be alone right now." He would say before he pushed them away.

Lunch with the gang wasn't any better though. Everyone sat there worried for both Jisung and Minho. They didn't know what to do, how to help them.

Minho wasn't doing good either. He locked himself away in his room and for the first few days. After that, he gradually came out of him room more often, but he was never the same. He was never happy and he was never laughing with them. He never left the house unless it was gang stuff and even then he wasn't giving it his one hundred. Minho wasn't as strong as he used to be from the lack of energy and food he had. His mind was noticeably not in the right space and he couldn't focus.

The gang had never seen Minho like this. Not even when he first joined was he _this_ quiet and shelled up. It was quite concerning and they didn't know how to help him.

-

"I have a plan." Seungmin said to Felix and Jeongin.

They both looked at each other before raising their eyebrows at Seungmin, "Plan for what?" Felix asked cautiously.

"On how we can cheer Jisung up."

"If your plan doesn't have anything to do with getting Minho back together with Jisung then I don't think it'll work." Jeongin said and Felix agreed.

"Just hear me out okay?" Seungmin said and the two boys hesitated at first but nonetheless agreed. They would try anything to cheer up Jisung.

"What if we went to the gang's house and asked Minho ourselves on why he broke up with Jisung." Seungmin shared.

Felix furrowed his eyebrows, "Why would that help Jisung in any way?"

"Because! We all know damn well that there was absolutely no way that Minho 'stopped loving' Jisung. There has to be a better reason on why he did what he did and maybe if we knew the reason then we could figure out a way to help Jisung feel better." The taller explained.

"Ohhh I see where you're going with this." Jeongin said, "But how do we even know that Minho hyung will talk to us and will actually tell us the truth?"

"Because we won't leave him alone until he does and if he really cared about Jisung then he would help us out a little bit."

"How do we know that he trusts us? What if he thinks we'll tell Jisung the truth?" Felix wondered.

Seungmin paused, thinking, "We don't, but if his reason is good enough to get him to break up with Jisung, then it must be good enough for us to not tell Jisung."

Jeongin sighed, "We have to at least try, for Jisung hyung. I really can't stand seeing him be sad any longer. I just want him to be happy again and to take care of his health because he's really not doing well." The others agreed with him.

"Okay, but how the hell are we gonna go to their house? None of us can drive and we don't even know where they live." Felix pointed out.

"I can call Chan hyung and ask him to pick us up." Seungmin said as he took out his phone and dialed the leader's phone number.

It rang a few times before Chan picked up, "Hello?"

"Hey Chan hyung."

"What's up Seungmin?"

"I have a quick question..."

"Mhm?"

"Can you pick me, Felix and Jeongin up from my house and take us to yours?"

"Uh yeah sure, but can I ask why?"

"Because we have no idea how to help Jisung and seeing him sad hurts us so we want to talk to Minho and ask him to explain everything because we know he didn't stop loving Jisung."

Chan stayed quiet for a few seconds,"I'm not sure if he'll even want to talk to you guys. He's barely talking to any of us."

"Yeah but we have to at least try because we're really worried for Jisung and hopefully if we find out the real reason then we'll know how to cheer him up."

Chan hesitated for a second before saying, "Okay send me your address, I'm leaving now."

"Thank you." Seungmin said before he hung up. He quickly texted Chan his address and looked up at his friends.

"Looks like we're going to interrogate Minho." Felix snorted.

"How are we going to explain to our boyfriends why we're at their house randomly?" Jeongin pointed out and the two other boys just shrugged.

"We could just have Chan hyung explain to them while we're banging on Minho's bedroom door, demanding him to let us in." Seungmin said making Felix and Jeongin laugh out loud.

"I cannot believe we're actually doing this." The youngest said.

A moment later, there was a knock on Seungmin's door. "Well damn, Chan hyung got here quicker than I thought." He said as he stood up from his seated position and walked from the living room to the door.

Seungmin opened the door revealing a Chan, "You ready?" Chan said to the three boys.

They nodded, "Ready as ever." Felix said.

They walked to Chan's car and got in. The car ride wasn't short or long and it was mostly of Chan warning the three the state Minho was in. It didn't sound much better than Jisung's to be honest. It only made them wonder even more on why he broke up with Jisung.

Finally they got to the first gate, Chan rolled down his windows and the guards came up.

"Oh hey boss." One of them said.

"Hey Shownu." Chan replied.

"I'll open the gate up." Shownu said before he disappeared into the woods. The gates opened and Chan continued to drive to the second gate.

After getting his eye and fingerprint scanned, Chan continued to drive the car, finally to their castle. When he parked in front of the house, everyone got out and someone went inside the car and drove off.

Chan opened the front door and let the three boys in. "No matter how many times I visit your home, I don't think I'll ever get over how beautiful it is." Felix said.

"Yeah me neither." Jeongin agreed.

Chan chuckled, "Thanks I designed it."

"You did?" Seungmin said in surprise.

"Yep." Chan nodded, giving a fake hurt expression to Seungmin.

"Sorry no offense, but like I didn't know you have this good of a taste in interior and exterior designs."

"None taken." Chan laughed.

In the kitchen, Hyunjin, Changbin, Yedam, and Woojin were hanging out and eating some food. They were waiting for Chan to get back home from wherever he went. The leader never really gave a proper answer on why he was heading out again. He left the room real quick to answer a phone call and when he came back he just said, "I'll be right back." gave Woojin a kiss on the cheek and then left.

They heard the front door open and heard multiple people come in, confusing the four guys. "Who did he bring home?" Yedam asked out loud.

Soon they heard voices start talking and Hyunjin, Changbin and Yedam perked up. They didn't know if they heard correctly or not. They all looked at each other and had the same facial expression.

"Is that..?" Changbin asked.

"It can't be." Hyunjin said.

"What're they doing here?" Yedam asked before he walked to the entrance with the other three guys close behind him.

Sure enough when they arrived at the front of the house, they saw Chan with Felix, Seungmin, and Jeongin talking about who knows what. The boyfriends stopped in their tracks and stared at their significant other until they made eye contact.

"Babe? What're you doing here?" Hyunjin asked as he walked towards them. Yedam, Changbin and Woojin soon followed his steps.

Seungmin, Felix, and Jeongin gave a small smile towards their boyfriend. "Not right now, we have something to do." Seungmin said to Hyunjin before he turned to Chan.

"Where the hell is he?" Seungmin asked.

Chan pointed to the closest elevator, "Fifth floor. Take that elevator."

The three quickly marched towards the elevator, not giving their boyfriends another glance. They had a mission and didn't have time to explain to their boyfriends.

Changbin, Woojin, Yedam and Hyunjin stared at Chan with confused eyes. "Uh, why are they here and why are they going to Minho hyung's floor?" Yedam asked his older brother.

"Because, they want to grill out the truth on why Minho broke up with Jisung since they know he didn't break up with him for the reason he said he did and now they want to know the real reason because it might help them help Jisung." Chan explained.

"The real question is, is Minho going to tell them the truth though?" Changbin asked.

"I don't know, Seungmin's a little scary when it comes to helping the people he loves, I'm sure he'll grill it out of Minho one way or another." Woojin said.

Hyunjin chuckled, "Yeah I'm not too worried about them. They'll get the information they need."

"I really hope Jisung gets better though and maybe it'll help Minho to talk about it. It hurts knowing they're both in pain." Chan said and the rest agreed.

-

When the three boys arrived to the fifth floor, they walked down the hall. "How do we know which one is Minho's bedroom?" Felix asked.

"I'm guessing the one at the end of the hallway with double doors is his room?" Jeongin answered, pointing to the end.

They quickly ran down the hallway to the end and stop in front of Minho's door. Seungmin aggressively knocked on the door and waited for Minho to say something.

"Go away." He demanded.

Seungmin scoffed and reached to the door knock, turning it, but soon realized it was locked. He shook the doorknob, "Minho please open the door." Seungmin asked politely first.

There was no answer and Seungmin got impatient. He started banging on the door, "Minho if you don't open this goddamn door right now, I swear to _god_ that I will tear this door down from it's hinges. We are coming into your room either way. I'm giving you three seconds."

"One. Two. Thre-" Seungmin was cut off from the sound of the door unlocking. The boy looked at his two friends before opening the door and walking inside.

Minho's room was a mess. There were clothes everywhere and trash on the floor. Tissues were scattered everywhere. Minho was sitting on his couch and he looked absolutely miserable. You can just tell from the energy exerting off of him, he was not happy, he was not himself. He wore sweats and a sweatshirt with the hood over his head.

Seungmin, Felix and Jeongin walked over to to where Minho was. They sat at the couch perpendicular to the couch that Minho was sitting at. They sat in silence for a few moments before Minho spoke up.

"What're you guys doing here?" He said.

"We want the truth." Seungmin demanded.

"About what?" Minho asked but he knew what they were asking about.

"Jisung." Felix said and once he said the name, Minho closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"We want to know why you broke up with him?" Jeongin said making sure that Minho had no room to ask dumb questions.

The gang member opened his eyes and looked at them, "You guys already know the reason. I broke up with him because I don't love him anymore." He said but everyone knew that it was a lie. Minho was a good liar, but you could tell that the lie he just told was so blatantly not the truth just by looking at his eyes. They were filled with grief and guilt.

Seungmin scoffed, "Minho shut the fuck up. You and everyone else in this room knows that that's bullshit. You might've fooled Jisung with that crap but you're not gonna fool us. We know you still love him because if you didn't, you wouldn't be moping around your room all sad and avoiding Jisung. Now tell us why you broke up with him."

Minho opened his mouth but quickly closed it and stayed quiet. Seungmin's patience was quickly fading and Felix could tell by the way his friend was glaring at the gang member.

"Minho _please, _just tell us. We aren't going to tell Jisung the truth, we promise. We just want to know because right now we don't know how to help him. Jisung's been keeping his mind busy by doing homework or studying because once he gets time to relax, his mind goes straight to the night you broke up with him and he starts crying non stop. He cries himself to sleep everyday, he doesn't eat and he's been distancing himself from us. We just want to help him and maybe if we know the real reason, then we could help him cope with his heartbreak." Felix begged.

Minho looked down. He knew what the outcomes were going to be after he broke up with Jisung, but there was a reason why he never showed up to school. He couldn't see Jisung, he couldn't see the damage he brought upon the boy he loved because he already saw it once and if he saw it again, he would break down and run back to him, apologizing for what he did and tell him the truth. Minho knew that he couldn't risk that so he stayed locked up in his house. Now actually hearing the damage he caused Jisung from the three closest people to him, just made Minho's heart shatter even more than it already was.

Seungmin was getting ready to grab Minho's collar and slap him for not answering, but he finally started speaking. "I didn't have a choice. Breaking Jisung's heart was something I _never _wanted to do, but it was the only choice I had, the only choice to keep him safe."

Seungmin furrowed his eyebrows, "How would keeping him away from you keep him safe?"

"I don't know how much Jisung or your boyfriends have told you about Moonjin and how we're affiliated with him. You can ask them for the details later, but long story short, both my parents died by the time I was 7 and then I was put into an orphanage. In the orphanage I was abused by this other kid, his name was Moonjin. That carried on for a year until I was put in a foster home along with Moonjin. The torture never stopped and I was a scrawny child so I was an easy target. Moonjin had help from the son of the foster parents, his name was Jaewoo and they did things to me that I wouldn't want to wish on anyone. After that I learned how to fight from street fighters and I finally built strength to fight back. I ran away from the foster home and eventually joined Stray Kids. A few years later we found Moonjin and Jaewoo, they were in a gang called WPQO. Me and the gang visited them and I killed Jaewoo and kept Moonjin alive so he could feel pain as he watched his friend die. I did it for payback."

Minho paused and the three boys were confused as to what this has to do with Jisung. The gang member continued, "And now Moonjin's back. His adoptive mom is coworkers with Jisung's mom which gives him an advantage. He's using Jisung to hurt me cause he knows I love Jisung more than anything. The day before I broke up with Jisung, I talked to Moonjin and he told me he wasn't interested in hurting Jisung, he just wanted to see me in pain. He told me he wouldn't do anything to Jisung if I broke up with him. If I didn't, then he was going to force his mom to talk with Jisung's mom to get Jisung and him to hang out alone and I knew the moment Moonjin was alone with him, he was going to take Jisung and torture him like he did with me. Or even worse, do the same thing I did to Jaewoo but with Jisung. I definitely couldn't risk that happening so I had to break up with him. I didn't do it because I didn't love him, I did it because I love him and didn't want him to get hurt."

Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin were stunned. They didn't know what they were expecting the reason to be, but they definitely weren't expecting that. They were speechless and didn't know what to say.

"Did you have to be so harsh when you broke up with Jisung though? You know you completely wrecked him right?" Seungmin spoke with an underline of anger.

Minho closed his eyes. "Jisung wasn't going to believe me unless I was as harsh as I was. He was already catching on that I was doing it to keep him safe. I had to make sure he had no doubt about it. I know how Moonjin is, he wasn't going to settle for anything less."

"But how do you know that Moonjin won't jump at the chance to take Jisung hyung now that you're not there to protect him. What if you're just making his job easier for him?" Jeongin asked.

"I don't. But there's a 100% chance of Jisung getting hurt while I was still with him and a slight chance of him not getting hurt while I'm not with him. The choice was obvious, even if I hate it. I don't trust Moonjin and I never will, but I had to do what he said for that small chance of Jisung being safe. I still have Chan hyung, Woojin hyung and your boyfriends watching over Jisung at school to just make sure he's safe." Minho paused for a second, "And I need you guys to promise me that if Jisung goes somewhere alone, that you'll tell me or your boyfriends or someone in the gang _please_."

The three boys all nodded.

It went quiet for a moment before Minho spoke up, "How is he doing?" His voice sounded weak and defeated.

Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin all have Minho a look of sympathy, they knew he was hurting just as much as Jisung. "Like I said, he's... not doing so well, but hopefully we can help him now." Felix said softly.

Minho nodded as he sighed and placed his head in his hands.

"How are you holding up?" Jeongin asked.

"I'm not." Minho answered. "I'm more worried about Jisung though."

"Don't be. We'll be taking care of him, you just take care of yourself okay? Jisung wouldn't want to see you like this. He still loves you, you know." Felix said.

That only made Minho feel even more guilty, "Dumbass, how can he still love me after I broke his heart."

"You would still love Jisung hyung even if he broke your heart, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I would... I miss him so much."

The three boys frowned, feeling bad for the boy, "What're you planning to do? Stay away from Jisung forever?" Seungmin asked.

Minho shook his head, "No, I definitely won't be able to do that."

"Then what?"

Minho didn't speak for a few moments, thinking about what next, "I need to find a way to get rid of Moonjin and his gang at the same time. If I kill Moonjin now then his gang will find a way to get a hold of Jisung and I can't risk that because I have no idea who's in his gang. A member of Moonjin's gang could become friends with Jisung and use that tactic to take him and I would have no idea about it."

The three friends chewed in their lips, not knowing that this whole situation was this complicated.

"I just hope Jisung will still want me by then." Minho mumbled.

"Oh trust me, he will." Felix answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter's gonna be fun so i hope you're excited :)))
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- cancelled  
\- don't go   
\- lied to
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	40. t h i r t y n i n e .

Jisung woke up and sat in his bed, staring at the wall. It had been a week since Minho broke up with him, or maybe two weeks. Jisung didn't know, he wasn't keeping track, the days all felt the same. Minho never showed up to school since they broke up. Jisung was getting better as the days went on. He wasn't crying himself to sleep every night anymore and he didn't have to keep his mind so busy, but there were some days that were harder than others. He was eating more now and he was almost the same person as before, but he wasn't as happy or cheery. His friends and siblings weren't worried as much for him, but they still kept a close eye on him. If it weren't for them, the boy wouldn't have been able to reach the mental state he was in now.

Jisung checked his phone and frowned. He was still getting used to not seeing a good morning text from his ex boyfriend. He dropped his phone on his bed and placed his face in his hands. He rubbed his eyes and sighed, it was going to be one of those days.

The sudden buzz from his phone spooked Jisung. He picked up his phone again and saw he got a message from Jeongin in the group chat.

**the child**  
we're still hanging out today right?

**seungmean**  
yes we are

**yongyongbokie**  
yes, we're meeting at seungmin's

**jisung**  
what time?

**seungmean**  
1:30

Jisung quickly checked the time. _12:04 P.M. Damn, I slept for that long? _He got up from his bed and walked to his connected bathroom. He took a quick shower and started brushing his teeth when his phone went off again. He checked his phone, thinking he was going to see one of his friends' names pop up on his phone, but instead he saw the name of the person that made him want to smash his phone against the mirror.

**moonjin**  
yo jisung let's work on our project today

Moonjin got Jisung's number recently so they could talk about the school project, but this was the first time he ever texted him. Jisung was really contemplating if he should reply back or not, but he decided to not be rude.

**jisung**  
i'm busy

**moonjin**  
our project is due this friday and we  
haven't done shit. i'm not about to   
get a bad grade and i'm sure you   
don't want one either

Jisung groaned and flung his head back. He didn't want to admit it, but Moonjin was right, if they didn't start on their project today then they would definitely not get it done on time.

**jisung**  
fine meet me at the library

**moonjin**  
it's saturday, the library's closed.  
let's just do it at my house, i'm too  
lazy to bring my school stuff  
anywhere else

Jisung almost immediately started typing 'no' but he paused and thought. _Minho wouldn't want me to go to his house, but that was because he thought Moonjin was after me to hurt him. We aren't dating anymore so Moonjin has no reason to hurt me. _He was brought out of his thoughts when his phone went off again.

**moonjin**  
uh did you die?

**jisung**  
fine we can do it at yours  
send me the address i'm coming rn

**moonjin**  
[address attached]  
oh btw my brother and dads home  
so sorry if they bother us or smth

**jisung**  
it's fine

The boy let out a sigh of relief. As long as Moonjin and him weren't home alone, then Jisung felt a little better. He clicked on the address and saw that Moonjin didn't live too far away from Jisung, probably a seven minute walk.

Jisung finished getting ready and put on a casual outfit. _12:43 P.M._ He grabbed his backpack and walked downstairs, meeting his siblings stare when he arrived at the bottom.

"Why are you bringing your backpack to Seungmin's house?" Brian raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not going to Seungmin's anymore. I'm going to Moonjin's house, we have to work on our project." Jisung explained.

"Oh okay. What time are you gonna come back?" Jihyo asked.

"Ummm, I don't really know, I'll text you." Jisung said as he walked to the door.

"Do you want me to drive you?" Brian called out.

"Nope, it's not that far, I'll be okay." Jisung waved before he walked outside.

While Jisung was almost to Moonjin's house, he realized he never texted his friends that he wasn't coming.

**jisung**  
guys i can't make it

**yongyongbokie **  
tf do you mean

**jisung**  
i can't hang today

**the child**  
yeah we got that much  
why not

**seungmean**  
jisung wtf

**jisung**  
i'm sorry!  
i have to work on the science  
project with moonjin

**seungmean**  
where? me and hyunjin will  
work on ours with you guys too

Jisung brought his eyebrows together in confusion.

**jisung**  
i thought you guys were done

**seungmean**  
no, we still have things to do

**jisung**  
it's fine, you three just hang out

**the child**  
where are you working on the project

**jisung**  
his house why?

**seungmean**  
stop it jisung turn around now

**jisung**  
guys i'll be fine. his dad and brother   
is home

**yongyongbokie **  
jisung don't go to his house

**jisung**  
i'm already in front of his house

-

The moment Jisung sent that text message, Seungmin, Felix, and Jeongin started to lose their shit. They were all at Seungmin's house already and we're just waiting for Jisung until he had the audacity to send them that message.

"Oh my god we have to go get him or something he's gonna fucking get kidnapped!" Felix yelled.

"We don't even know where Jisung hyung is!" Jeongin yelled.

The tall boy didn't know what to do, he couldn't go out and drag Jisung's ass back home. "I love Jisung with all my heart, but he's an actual dumbass I swear to fucking god." Seungmin mumbled as he quickly dialed his boyfriend's number.

After two rings, Hyunjin finally picked up, "Hey ba-"

"Hyunjin, Jisung is walking to Moonjin's house!" Seungmin cut his boyfriend off in frantic.

"Jisung is walking to Moonjin's house!?" Hyunjin repeated for clarification.

"Felix, Jeongin and I don't know where Moonjin lives and w-we don't know what to do." Seungmin said worried.

"Hey, don't freak out, I'm gonna tell Minho, he knows where Moonjin lives. I'll come pick you guys up afterwards."

"Please hurry." Seungmin begged.

-

Minho was sitting at his desk when Hyunjin barged into his room. He looked at the taller male in surprise. Hyunjin looked distressed which made Minho worry.

Before Minho could ask Hyunjin about it, the boy was yelling out, "Minho you have to text Jisung right now!"

Minho's heart rate increased through the roof at the mention of his love. He aprubtly stood up, "What's wrong with Jisung?"

"He's walking to Moonjin's house!" Hyunjin practically screamed.

Minho's face twisted into actual fear and panic. "Jisung's walking _where_?" He quickly grabbed his phone and fumbled to Jisung's contact, texting him.

**minho**  
jisung dont you dare go to moonjin's house

**baby****♡**  
minho?

Minho felt a little relieved that Jisung texted him back, indicating that he wasn't hurt.

**minho**  
i thought you told me that you wouldn't   
go to his house

**baby****♡**  
i thought you told me that you loved  
me but i guess we both lied

Minho felt his heart tear a little. He deserved it, but it still hurt. It wasn't like he wanted to lie and damage Jisung. Minho was about to type something back but the other beat him to it.

**baby****♡**  
i'm sorry.

Minho's heart tore even more. He deserved the outburst from Jisung and even after Minho broke the boys heart, he still apologized to him. Something Minho has been wanting to do but couldn't, an apology that Jisung deserved but never got. Minho didn't deserve an apology from the other male because he had every right to be mad, but he still got it. It just made the gang member feel even more guilty.

**baby****♡**  
but his dad and brother is home  
so i'm fine

**minho**  
don't move, i'm coming to pick you up

**baby****♡**  
i'm already in his house

Minho's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. _At his house already? That's not possible. From Jisung's house to Moonjin's is at least a thirty minute walking distance._

**minho**  
you're already at his house?  
how long did it take for you to walk?

**baby****♡**  
yeah i'm sitting on his couch  
moonjin went upstairs to get his stuff  
about seven minutes

That's when it all clicked. This is a trap. This is a fucking trap. That's not Moonjin's house, it's some other house that he's using to lure Jisung in. Moonjin's not going upstairs to get his fucking shit, he's going upstairs to get something to knock Jisung out.

**minho**  
jisung get out now!  
send me the address

**baby****♡**  
what why? i'm fine

Minho was typing a reply when Jisung sent another message.

**baby****♡**  
oh gotta go he's coming downstairs

That's when Minho started panicking to the fucking max. He felt his pulse increase as he clicked to call Jisung with his shaky hands. It kept ringing and ringing. After each ring, Minho felt his hands get more sweaty and his anxiety levels go up. After enough rings, his call went to voicemail. Minho felt like the air had been sucked out of him.

He quickly grabbed the handle to his bedroom door and turned it, swinging his door open, when he felt his phone start buzzing. He looked down at his phone and was overwhelmed with relief. Jisung's name popped up across his screen. He quickly swiped to answer the call, putting the phone up to his ear.

"Jisung oh my god you scared me. What the hell?" Minho sighed.

The gang member heard a laughter from the other line making him freeze in his spot. He knew that laugh from anywhere, it wasn't the cute innocent one that Jisung had. Instead this was a pity laugh that mocked him.

"What did you fucking do to him?" Minho spoke between his clenched jaw.

"Oh wouldn't you like to know." Moonjin teased.

"Don't you fucking _touch_ him. Why the hell are you doing this? I broke up with him just for you." Minho demanded an answer.

"Oh Minho, you desperate bitch. Did you really think that you breaking up with Jisung would satisfy me? Did you really think I would leave Jisung alone? Hell no. You of all people should know that."

Minho froze and felt his heart stop.

"I only said that so Jisung would be alone and helpless without you beside him. But don't feel too bad about breaking up with him, I didn't really give you a choice, I was going to take him either way. You breaking up with him just made it easier for me. You're gonna fucking pay for what you did to Jaewoo and your little lover will be the price you're paying."

"If you do anything to him I'll-"

"You'll do what?" Moonjin cut him off. "You don't even know where we are or where I'm taking him. But don't worry, I'll take extra good care of him. I wonder what he looks like without all those clothes covering him." Moonjin laughed before he smashed Jisung's phone on the floor, completely breaking it.

Minho felt like he couldn't breathe and started shaking as the call ended. If Jisung had to go through what Minho went through, then he would _never _forgive himself.

Moonjin was correct though, Minho didn't know where he was or where they were taking him. The gang member leaned against a wall and slid down it, dropping his head in his hands, for once, not knowing what to do next.

-

**Jisung POV (in 3rd person)**

Jisung walked up the steps and knocked on the door, waiting for Moonjin to answer. After a few seconds, the door swung open and Jisung was face to face with Moonjin.

"Hey Jisung, come on in." The boy opened the door wider for Jisung to enter. The house was nice, it felt very cozy and comfortable.

"You can sit on the couch while I go upstairs to get my school stuff." Moonjin said and Jisung nodded, making his way to the couch.

Once Jisung sat down, his phone buzzed again. He looked at his phone and thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. There was no way he got a text from _him_.

**minho<3**  
jisung don't you dare go to moonjin's house

**jisung**  
minho?

There was so many emotions and thoughts flying through Jisung's mind. He felt his heart skip a beat a little when he saw his name pop up on his phone. _Is he actually texting me? Why is he texting me? How does he know I'm going to Moonjin's house? Why does he even care?_

**minho<3**  
i thought you told me that you wouldn't   
go to his house

Jisung felt betrayed. How dare Minho use that against him and make him feel like he did something wrong when the gang member did the same thing. Jisung felt a sudden burst of anger.

**jisung**  
i thought you told me that you loved  
me but i guess we both lied

The moment he sent that message, he felt horrible and his anger turned into sadness.

**jisung**  
i'm sorry.  
but his dad and brother is home  
so i'm fine

**minho<3**  
don't move, i'm coming to pick you up

_Coming to pick me up? I thought he didn't care about me anymore?_

**jisung**   
i'm already in his house

**minho<3**  
you're already at his house?  
how long did it take for you to walk?

**jisung**  
yeah i'm sitting on his couch  
moonjin went upstairs to get his stuff  
about seven minutes

**minho<3**  
jisung get out now!  
send me the address

**jisung**  
what why? i'm fine

The boy heard Moonjin's footsteps coming downstairs.

**jisung**  
oh gotta go he's coming downstairs

Right when Jisung was about to put his phone away, he felt it start buzzing continuously. The boy looked down and saw Minho's name across his phone. He looked down in confusion. _Why is he calling me? _As he moved his finger to answer the phone call, Jisung felt a sharp pain at the back of his head before his vision went black.

-

Jisung woke up with a throbbing headache. His entire body was sore, almost like he had been thrown around the room multiple times. The cold concrete floor he was laying on sort of helped with the soreness and the possible bruises he had all over his body. He groaned while trying to sit up. It wasn't very bright wherever Jisung was, so it didn't take his eyes much time to adjust to the light.

"Tell boss that he's awake." He heard someone say. It was a male voice and it frightened Jisung, he thought he was all alone but apparently not. His eyes followed the owner of the voice and it landed on a sort of buff guy.

There was another guy who was skinny, blue hair and seemed sorta tall. He walked up the stairs that led to the door. Something about him felt familiar, like Jisung's seen him before. That's when he noticed his surroundings. The walls were concrete with maybe one window. There was one giant concrete column in the middle of the room and a bunch of wooden beams on the ceiling with metal pipes. It was freezing down here, Jisung was shivering from the cold. The boy came to the conclusion that he was in the basement, but of what?

_Where am I? What the fuck happened?_

Suddenlythe door opened and he saw two people walking down the stairs. One being an all too familiar face.

"Moonjin?" Jisung said out loud and that's when it all came rushing back. He was at Moonjin's house when all of a sudden he got whacked in the head and blacked out.

"Hey Jisung. How was your little nap?" Moonjin snickered.

"How long have I been out?" Jisung asked while rubbing his head.

"Uh a day."

_I've been passed out for a day? Oh my god Brian hyung and Jihyo noona are probably so worried._

"What're you doing?"

"I'm doing what I've always wanted to do. Getting revenge on your little boyfriend."

"I don't have a boyfriend. If you think you're going to hurt Minho by hurting me, then you're wrong, he doesn't love me anymore." Jisung spat.

Moonjin started laughing with his whole chest, "Oh sweetie, Minho still loves you. He never stopped."

Jisung's face scrunched you in confusion. _How would he know that? _"W-What?"

"Minho never wanted to break up with you, but he had too. I was the one who forced him to break your heart by dumping you. At first he absolutely refused to do it, but he slowly realized he had no choice. Whatever bullshit excuse he gave you for the reason why he broke up with you were lies, he still loves you."

The bruised boy dropped his jaw. He felt tears weld up in his eyes, he wasn't sure if it was from pure relief that Minho never stopped loving him or if it was from absolute guilt that he blamed Minho for something he never wanted to do.

"I threatened that if he didn't break up with you then I would kidnap you and hurt you but if he did then I wouldn't touch you. Stupid bitch believed me, of course that was only a lie to get him to leave you alone and helpless, making it easier for me to take you."

Jisung sucked in his breath when he realized what this meant for him. "W-why are you doing this?"

Moonjin snorted, "Because, seeing Minho in pain and suffering is something I enjoy witnessing. He's gonna pay for what he did." Moonjin slowly started inching towards Jisung, making the latter scoot back. Soon Jisung's was stopped by the legs of the buff guy, he quickly grabbed at Jisung's arms, making sure he won't run away or move.

Moonjin kept walking towards the smaller boy until he stood right in front of him. The gang leader looked behind him at the blue haired boy from earlier, "Yeonjun do you wanna join?"

Yeonjun shook his head and headed for the stairs, "You know I don't want to."

"Oh come on. It'll be fun."

Yeonjun made a face, "Hurting Jisung isn't any sort of entertainment for me. You know the reason why I helped kidnap him. What you do with him has nothing to do with me." He said before leaving the basement.

Jisung furrowed his eyes in confusion. _What does he mean by that? What reason is he talking about?_

Moonjin scoffed as he turned back to the trembling boy. He reached out his hand towards Jisung's face and slowly caressed the boys cheek. The prisoner turned his head many times, trying to get Moonjins hand away from him, but that only made Moonjin furious and resulted in him slapping Jisung's face. The small boy whimpered in pain.

The gang leader smiled and went back to caressing the hostage's cheek. "We're gonna have so much fun Jisung." Moonjin retracted his hand away from Jisung's cheek, "But not yet. That'll be tomorrow, today you're not gonna enjoy it, but I will." The boy smiled before he swung his fist at full speed against Jisung's cheekbone, snapping the boys head towards the right.

Before Jisung could recover from that painful punch, he got a kick to his chest, taking his breath away for a few seconds. He thought he was going to die right then and there. Jisung honestly didn't know what would've been the better option, dying right there or living.

Moonjin continued to punch Jisung's face with both fists. It was like he was the punching bag and Moonjin was the boxer. Every once in a while, the gang leader would punch his gut or kick his shin. By the end, Jisung's face was swollen and red, with a cut on his lip, surprisingly not much blood, only from his busted lip. It only further proved how weak Moonjin really was, but Jisung was for sure going to wake up with tons of bruises around his body. On top of that, the man that was holding Jisung, his grip was absolutely brutal, it would definitely leave a bruise mark of his hand. Jisung was surprised the blood circulation wasn't cut off.

After Moonjin finally finished, he spat on Jisung and walked back to the stairs that led to the door. The dude threw Jisung to the ground before following Moonjin. The boss stopped and turned to him who stayed on the floor in agony.

"Don't try to escape, you won't be able to and if I find out you did, then you're gonna get an even worse punishment." Moonjin said before opening the door for him and the other guy. Jisung heard the click of the door locking.

The broken boy rolled up into a ball, hugging his knees and cried for a few minutes. He just missed his siblings and his friends. He wished he had listened to them when they said not to go to Moonjin's house. How could he be so stupid? Jisung slowly started to think how he maybe deserved this since it was his fault for going to the bastard's house in the first place. He soon fell asleep.

...

A few hours later, the basement door opened again waking Jisung up with a flinch. He wanted to run and hide, but he was too weak and in pain. Soon he saw Yeonjun walking down the stairs with a tray of food. He walked to Jisung and set the plate in from of him. Yeonjun looked at him for a few seconds before he turned around to leave.

"Wait!" Jisung called out weakly.

The blue haired boy stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to the boy sitting up.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked. "What did I ever do to you?"

Yeonjun chewed on his bottom lip, "It's not you, it's Minho. It just so happens that you are the one he loves. I only helped kidnap you to hurt Minho, I don't have any interest in actually hurting you, you did nothing wrong. Moonjin on the other hand, is the one that wants to torture you and I would stop him if I could, but I can't since he's my leader."

Jisung furrowed his eyebrows, "But what did Minho ever do to you?"

Yeonjun scoffed, "Are you serious? He killed Jaewoo, one of my friends."

"Why would you become friends with someone like Jaewoo and Moonjin." Jisung asked before he could stop himself. Fear filled his body as he expected Yeonjun to punch him or something, but he didn't.

Instead the boy scoffed, "Why would you date someone like Minho? He killed Jaewoo because he was jealous."

Jisung furrowed his eyebrows in pure confusion, "W-What?"

"When they were younger, Minho and Moonjin were good friends until Jaewoo came along and took Moonjin from him. After that he was lonely and he wanted to get revenge on Jaewoo ever since." Yeonjun explained.

Jisung was speechless, "Who told you that nonsense?"

"Moonjin, who else?" He said like it was the most obvious thing ever.

"You don't know what Moonjin and Jaewoo did to Minho when they were younger? When Moonjin and Minho stayed at Jaewoo's house as foster kids?"

It was Yeonjun's turn to scrunch his face in confusion, "What're you talking about? Moonjin isn't an orphan. He met Jaewoo and Minho from school."

Jisung blinked. He didn't know what to say. What the hell was Yeonjun saying? What does he mean by school? Why doesn't he know about them being orphans?

That's when it all dawned on him. Yeonjun and the rest of WPQO were being lied to. Moonjin was making it seem like him and Jaewoo were innocent. WPQO had no idea what their leader had done to Minho, they only knew that Minho killed their friend who they thought was innocent. That's why they hated him so much, they had no context and Moonjin made it seem like he was the enemy.

Jisung opened his mouth to say something but someone else beat him to it.

"Yeonjun!" It was Moonjin's voice yelling from upstairs.

The mentioned boy turned towords Jisung, "Gotta go. Don't do anything stupid or else Moonjin might actually kill you." He warned before walking back upstairs.

Jisung felt the fear crawl back into him. He sat there for a few minutes, wrapping his head around what just happened. Soon he got up, whimpering in pain, and walked around the basement looking for something that would help him escape. Jisung knew that Yeonjun had just warned him not to do anything stupid, but if he was slick enough then he wouldn't get caught.

Jisung searched the boxes, but they were only filled with useless shit. Until he reached his ninth box, he saw an oldish phone and started to thank the gods. He quickly turned it on and searched around the phone, seeing if it was real and if it still worked.

Soon realizing that the phone still worked, Jisung quickly went to the phone pad, and called the only number he remembered by heart, praying that he would answer the unknown phone number.

After a few rings, he answered the phone. "Hello?" He asked confused.

Jisung sobbed from relief when he heard his voice. "Minho _please_ help me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what do you think about yeonjun and the rest of WPQO?
> 
> off topic but have you guys read cherry blossoms after winter? it's so freaking cute🥺 anyways i've been reading a lot of manhwas/webtoons lately and i just finished that one and my heart is soft.
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- video  
(sorry it's small but i don't wanna spoil anything hehe)
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)
> 
> see you on friday !


	41. f o r t y .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> from now on, when i say "the gang" in stray kids' context, i'm referring to chan woojin minho changbin hyunjin AND yedam, no yedam's not in the gang but it's just annoying saying "the gang and yedam" all the time

_Jisung quickly went to the phone pad, and called the only number he remembered by heart, praying that the person would answer the unknown phone number._

_After a few rings, the person answered the phone. "Hello?" The voice asked confused._

_Jisung sobbed from relief when he heard his voice. "Minho please help me."_

"Jisung?!"

The boy cried, hearing Minho's voice after so long was nice to hear, "Minho help me."

"Jisung where are you?" His voice was frantic.

"I-I don't know. Some k-kind of basement? Moonjin and his gang are h-here. Minho I-I'm scared." Jisung's voice wavered.

"I know baby. I'm gonna get you out of there as soon as possible, hold on." Minho tried to soothe Jisung's fear.

"Please hurry I don't want to be here any longer, I'm scared Moonjin's gonna kill me."

"He's not gonna kill you, I'll find you and kill him and the rest of the gang before he does."

Jisung remembered what Yeonjun said. "W-wait don't kill the gang."

"What? Ji-"

"Minho please just trust me, they're innocent, don't kill them. Capture them if you want, but don't kill them."

"Okay okay we won't, I promise... Please tell me you're not hurt."

"I-I'm okay, just scared." Jisung lied a little. What Minho didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"Can you describe what's around you? Is there a window you can look out of and describe what you see outside?"

"Um, there's a window, but all I see is-"

Jisung was interrupted from the sound of the basement door opening and footsteps stomping down the stairs.

"What the hell are you doing?" Moonjin's voice yelled.

"Jisung!? Jisung speak to me!" The boy heard Minho yell through the phone, but he couldn't say anything back, his voice didn't work. Jisung shook in fear, he couldn't move. His body was glued in this position.

"Oh you found a phone? Who the hell are you talking to?" Moonjin reached out for the phone but Jisung flinched and protected the phone. "You bitch give me the goddamn phone." Moonjin slapped Jisung's already sore cheek, causing the boy to wince at the pain and drop the phone.

Moonjin reached down and picked up the phone. "If you would've just gave up the phone like a good kid, then I wouldn't have had to slap you. That's your fault." He growled at Jisung who had tears running his eyes.

"Who is this?" Moonjin asked into the phone. Jisung couldn't hear Minho's response. Only Moonjins.

"Oh Minho! Nice to talk to you buddy. Good luck trying to find me. You know, Jisung's actually really attractive, I see why you love him so much. I'm guessing he must be great in bed too."

Jisung eyes widened at what was said about him. He wanted to roll up and hide from his uncomfortableness, but there was no where to hide.

Moonjin continued "Let's see how beautiful Jisung is without any of those clothes covering him up, shall we? Tie him up so he won't move." Moonjin directed the last sentence to the guard that came down with him.

Jisung saw the guard walk towards him which spiked his fear level, he wanted to run but he couldn't, he was weak and couldn't even fight back when the guard reach out and grabbed his arm. He dragged Jisung towards the middle column.

"Ow! Stop please! You're hurting me! Stop it!" Jisung yelled. The guard was gripping so hard on his arm, it was cutting the blood circulation.

The guard threw Jisung against the column, causing him to cry out in pain. "Shut up." The guard said annoyed.

"...a little fun with your Jisung." The injured boy heard Moonjin say before he hung up the phone and walked over to him.

The guard grabbed both of Jisung's wrists and tied them together with rope before he pulled his hands above his head. The other end of the rope was tied to one of the wood planks on the ceiling. Jisung tried to yank his hand down, but instead he was met with the hot burn of the rope rubbing against his skin.

The guard tied Jisung's ankles together and around the giant cement column, making it impossible for the boy to move his feet. The guard continued to gag Jisung's mouth with a bandana. The boy felt the fabric on his tongue, he really hoped it was clean but that was highly unlikely.

Moonjin leaned close to Jisung. The boy thought that the gang leader was going to kiss him, but was relieved when Moonjin leaned to his ear, "Minho's never gonna find you. You're gonna stay with me forever, being my little punching bag and my little slut. You're not going to complain about it or else I'll hurt you." He whispered.

Jisung started crying, he had to hold onto that hope that Minho would find him, but it was hard. Moonjin handed the guard the phone that Jisung found.

"Take a video of what I'm about to do to Jisung and I want you to send it to Minho." Moonjin ordered.

"Yes sir." The guard replied.

-  
(the next scene is the continuation after moonjin answered jisung's phone and then smashed it, ending the call)

Minho still sitting on the floor with his head in his hand when he heard the elevator open. He looked up and saw his eight friends walking towards him with concern in their eyes.

"Did you text Jisung? What happened?" Hyunjin asked.

Minho groaned him frustration, "Moonjin took him. He fucking took Jisung and I have no idea where he is."

Everyone took a sharp inhale, "What do you mean? A-aren't they at Moonjin's house?" Felix spoke first.

Minho shook his head, "The address that Moonjin sent Jisung wasn't his home, it was a trap so he could take Jisung." Minho's voice gave out at the end.

"Minho what happened when you texted Jisung. I want to know every detail." Chan demanded.

Minho closed his eyes and felt tears roll down his face. He explained what had happened from when he texted Jisung, till the phone call with Moonjin.

Seungmin, Felix and Jeongin started crying, they were absolutely terrified that their friend wouldn't come back or that they would never find him. At this point they didn't even know if Jisung was still alive.

"Go to bed Minho, the rest of us will take care of it and try to track Jisung." Chan ordered.

Minho stood up abruptly, "What? You want me to sleep?"

"Minho I know you want to help us but you need rest, when we do find him, you can't go into mission with no sleep, you're not gonna do well. You'll be risking your life and Jisung's." Chan said. Minho knew his leader was right so he dragged himself back into his room.

...

The next day Minho was pacing back and forth in his room when he felt his phone start going off. He checked the ID and it was someone he didn't know. He debated whether or not to answer, but ultimately decided to accept the call.

"Hello?" He asked

"Minho help me." The person's voice sounded like they were crying for hours.

Minho froze, he could tell that voice from anywhere and he felt his heart jump, "Jisung?!" He said in disbelief.

Minho heard the boy let out a cry, "Minho please help me."

"Jisung where are you?"

"I-I don't know. Some k-kind of basement? Moonjin and his gang are h-here. Minho I-I'm scared." Jisung's voice was shaking and it made Minho feel useless.

He was supposed to make Jisung feel safe, but he failed and now the boy was trapped in a basement terrified for his life.

"I know baby. I'm gonna get you out of there as soon as possible, hold on." Minho tried to soothe Jisung's fear.

"Please hurry I don't want to be here any longer, I'm scared Moonjin's gonna kill me."

Minho inhaled sharply, "He's not gonna kill you, I'll find you and kill him and the rest of the gang before he does."

"W-wait don't kill the gang."

Minho furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What? Ji-"

"Minho please just trust me, they're innocent, don't kill them. Capture them if you want, but don't kill them." Jisung's voice was desperate.

"Okay okay we won't, I promise... Please tell me you're not hurt."

"I-I'm okay, just scared." Minho knew Jisung wasn't okay, the absolute fear in his voice begged to differ.

"Can you describe what's around you? Is there a window you can look out of and describe what you see outside?"

"Um, there's a window, but all I see is-"

His voice was interrupted by Moonjin's, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Jisung?! Jisung speak to me!" Minho started freaking out. The boy wasn't answering him and he was scared.

"Oh you found a phone? Who the hell are you talking to? ... You bitch give me the phone." Minho heard Moonjin speak soon followed by a very loud noise that sounded like a slap. He heard Jisung wince and then loud noises that indicated that the phone landed on the floor.

Minho was fuming, he wanted to pounce and kill Moonjin for laying a finger on Jisung, but he couldn't and he's never felt so useless.

"If you would've just gave up the phone like a good kid, then I wouldn't have had to slap you. That's your fault." Moonjin growled and Minho heard Jisung whimpering in the back. The sound made Minho punch the wall in his bedroom.

"Who is this?" Moonjin asked into the phone.

"Once I find you, you're fucking dead." Minho said through clenched teeth.

"Oh Minho! Nice to talk to you buddy. Good luck trying to find me. You know, Jisung's actually really attractive, I see why you love him so much. I'm guessing he must be great in bed too."

"Don't you _fucking dare_ talk about him like that!" Minho yelled into the phone.

Moonjin continued "Let's see how beautiful Jisung is without any of those clothes covering him up, shall we? Tie him up so he won't move." Minho was gripping his hands so tightly that his nails were cutting into his palm.

He heard Jisung screaming in the back about how he was in pain, and Minho's heart broke into pieces. He punched the wall again trying to let his anger out, but it wasn't helping.

"If you touch him Moonjin I swear I'll-"

"You'll what? You don't even know where I am. You can't do anything and I'm gonna take advantage of that. I'm gonna have a little fun with your Jisung." The call ended before Minho would say anything. He heard the mocking tone in Moonjin's voice which made Minho yell out at the top of his lungs. He knew what Moonjin was about to do, but he couldn't do anything about it which made him feel like a failure.

Minho couldn't think straight, his mind was utter chaos and he didn't even now where to start. It was almost like he wasn't able to think of any rational actions at all.

Suddenly his phone buzzed, bringing him back to stability, Minho checked his phone. It was from an unknown number with a video attached.

Minho confusedly clicked on the message and the video. When the video started, Minho saw Jisung, tied up against something, with a bandana in his mouth. He was crying and you can see the deep purple and blue bruises and cuts all over his face and arms. Minho felt the anger in his stomach bubble.

Moonjin appeared in the video he walked up to Jisung and punched his face before pulling down the bandana down from his mouth. Jisung looked up at him in fear before the leader started roughly kissing the tied up boy. He moved his head to the side to avoid Moonjin's lips, but he forcefully grabbed Jisung's jaw, making the boy wince in pain, and kissed him again. Jisung never kissed back, he was squirming as much as he could but it wasn't enough to get Moonjin off of him.

Moonjin then moved his other hand under Jisung's shirt, touching all over the boy's chest and stomach. This made Jisung squirm even more and try to scream but he couldn't.

That's where the video ended.

Minho stood there in shock for a few moment before his shock was overtaken by him feeling absolutely sick to his stomach, he imagined all the things that couldn't happened after the video ended and it made him want to pass out. Soon that sickness turned to absolute anger.

Minho threw his phone across the room and started yelling. He punched the walls, imagining it was Moonjin's face. Tears rolled down his face of pure frustration and soon he dropped to the floor and wept. He had _never_ felt so useless, so weak, so vain. He couldn't even keep the one person he loved with his while life, protected like he had promised.

Minho's door barged open and he met eyes with his gang. They've all been trying really hard to find out where Jisung was, but it was difficult since they had no trace and nothing to work off of. The other three friends were sleeping in their boyfriend's room.

"What happened?" Chan asked. Minho stayed quiet, he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud.

Changbin noticed Minho's phone on the floor. He walked over and picked it up. Surprisingly his phone wasn't shattered. He played the video that Minho was watching and quickly gasped, pausing it. He looked at his crying friend with wide eyes, "Oh my god Minho who sent that to you?"

"Who do you think?"

The whole gang rest of the gang walked over to Changbin, confused on what he was looking at. He clicked play on the video and everyone had the same reaction as him. They gasped and all looked away. They didn't know what they were expecting Jisung to look like, but they didn't think he was going to be beat up and bruised _that_ badly. Everyone stayed quiet for a second, not knowing what to say.

"Wait this is great!" Hyunjin said all of a sudden, "I-I mean, not the actual video... but the fact that they contacted you. Now we can track the phone and find out where they're holding Jisung hostage."

Everyone looked at Hyunjin with hopeful eyes, "How long will that take?" Minho asked.

"Uh, maybe an hour or so?"

"Make it half an hour." Chan ordered Hyunjin and the boy widened his eyes, but nonetheless nodded. He ran off with Minho's phone and everyone followed behind him.

"We'll get him out of there today Minho." Woojin walked over to the boy and sat next to him.

"I'm just scared that Moonjin will do what me did to me with Jisung. I don't think I'll ever face Jisung again. I'm going to feel so guilty because it's all my fault."

"It's not your fault. You tried your best and sometimes there are moments when you can't do anything. Jisung's not going to blame you for it so you don't need to." Woojin said.

"His voice, god you should've heard his voice, it was filled with pure fear and desperation. I've never felt so useless and like such a coward."

"Stop it, you're not useless, you're helping us all try and find Jisung. You're trying your best."

"I talked to him in the phone. He called me. He could've called anyone, the cops, but he called me begging me to come help him." Minho whispered. "How can he call me and tell me to save him when he's in this mess because of me."

"None of this is your fault. It's not your fault that Moonjin grew up as a messed up kid. You can't blame yourself for things that you can't control. Jisung knows that isn't your fault and that's why he called you, he trusts that you'll save him. I don't want to hear you blame yourself ever again."

Minho sighed and placed his head in his hands.

-

Jisung was squirming for his life. He felt the rope burn against his skin but he didn't care. All he wanted was to get Moonjins lips off of his. He tried to scream but it became muffled in Moonjin's mouth. His hands invaded his chest, stomach and basically everywhere in his upper body. Jisung felt tears stream down his face. He didn't feel the fireworks or electricity or the butterflies he did when Minho kissed and roamed his hands all over his body. Instead Jisung felt dirty and infected.

Moonjin finally stopped kissing Jisung and he's never felt happier. The happiness soon twisted into his stomach and was replaced with fear.

"You're lips are nice and soft, no wonder Minho's dating you. But now let's see how good your body feels." Moonjin smirked.

Before Jisung could process what Moonjin said, the male slightly pulled down Jisung's pants. Enough to where he was fully exposed, the sudden coldness made Jisung shiver. He tried to bring his knees up, but of course they were stopped by the ropes.

Moonjin started touching Jisung and the boy started squirming and sobbing.

"Stop it! Stop it! Please don't do this!" Jisung screamed through his tears.

"Oh shut up, I know you're enjoying this." Moonjin smirked.

His hand traveled further down and stopped at his destination. Jisung sucked in his breath and cried silently.

"P-please don't. I'm begging you, I-I'll do anything." Jisung whispered in defeat.

"Anything?"

Jisung nodded his head.

Moonjin smirked and shook his head, before proceeding. Jisung screamed out in pain and sobbed his eyes out. He'd much rather have Moonjin kiss him and touch his chest, than what he was doing right now. The sharp pain Jisung felt in his lower back was indescribable. Moonjin stopped after like thirty seconds, but to Jisung it felt like thirty decades.

The boss kissed Jisung one last time, "Next time, it won't be my finger." He whispered into Jisung's ear before he walked away to the door. Once he left the basement, the guard untied Jisung and walked to the basement door, locking it after he closed it.

Jisung immediately pulled his pants up and curled up in a ball. He cried hysterically, he's never felt so violated, so disgusting. He wished Minho was there with him.

-

"I found him! I found him!" Hyunjin yelled as he came running in Minho's room. Minho abruptly stood up. "Come on Minho we have to go!"

The boy ran with Hyunjin to the from of the house. There was an suv in the front. Minho and Hyunjin hopped inside and Woojin stepped on the gas pedal. Minho looked around and saw the gang.

His eyes widened, "Yedam?"

"I want to get revenge for what they did to Jisung." He explained and Minho nodded.

The drive was about ten minutes and the moment Woojin pulled into the destination, the car doors were flying open as the members were jumping out. Changbin gave Minho all his equipment. Everyone else was all geared up. They stood in front of an old house that looked like no one had been inside in years.

"I have the rest of Stray Kids going to the WPQO headquarters, just in case there's people there. If there are then they're gonna kill them and-"

"No." Minho interrupted.

"Sorry?" Chan said.

"Don't kill anyone. Jisung specifically said to not kill the gang and I promised him I wouldn't. He knows something we don't, he said that they were innocent. Don't kill them, just capture them." Minho said, leaving no room for discussion.

"Okay, well I guess we can tranquilize them and tie them up. All of us will go in first and attack the guards or the other members in this house while Minho you go find the basement and get Jisung out. Whatever you do, _don't_ kill Moonjin." Chan continued and everyone nodded except for Minho.

Chan sent a quick message to the rest of his gang to tell them not to kill anyone. Everyone lined up in front of Minho, Chan in the front, he kicked down the door and started shooting darts at the people in his way. Soon the rest of Stray Kids started pushing inside, trying to keep the enemy distracted while Minho ran inside and searched for the basement. He walked everywhere but he never found the door to the basement.

_Where the hell is it?_

Minho reached the end of the hallway and still saw no door. He looked around himself, bamboozled at the lack of a basement door. Were they in the right place? He looked closer at the wall at the end. There was something about the wallpaper that was a little off, he started to roam his hands around the wall, trying to feel for a door not or something. Then he finally found it, he pulled the door opened and it led to stairs.

Minho quickly ran down the stairs, he looked around and met eyes with the person he loved for the first time in weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't hate me for what i put jisung through 😔
> 
> in the next chapter:  
-fucked?
> 
> tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)
> 
> i'm debating if i should update on tuesday or friday ;) we'll see
> 
> also a lot of people are confused with my uploading schedule. when i update on tuesday or friday, i upload at some time between 5-7 pm pacific standard time, so for some of you guys, it will be on wednesday or saturday.


	42. f o r t y o n e .

_Minho quickly ran down the stairs, he looked around and met eyes with the person he loved, for the first time in weeks._

Jisung was tied up like he was in the video. His mouth was being gagged with a bandana and the boy's eyes lit up when he saw Minho. He started to cry from relief.

Minho ran to him and cupped his face. Jisung leaned into his touch, missing it so much. "Jisung." The gang member whispered in disbelief, this was the first time he saw the boy in weeks and all the emotions came flooding back to him.

Minho removed the bandana from Jisung's mouth. "I missed you." Jisung said between sniffles. He looked at Minho with watery eyes and pure relief. Minho quickly wiped his face from the fallen tears and the ones that were threatening to spill.

Jisung looked behind Minho with a confused expression on his face, but his eyes soon widened as he realized what was gonna happen and he looked at Minho in fear. "Minho behind yo-"

It was too late though, out of nowhere, the gang member was grabbed at the arms by two people and pulled back away from Jisung, causing the tied up male to yell in fear. Minho struggled to set himself free, he wasn't as strong as he used to be. He tried to pull his hands free, but the two people holding him had such a tight grip, and mixed with Minho's lack of strength at the moment, he couldn't break free from it. Instead, Minho was forced onto his knees. He looked up at the people who were holding him and saw that they were a lot larger in size.

Out of nowhere Minho heard laughter, the same laughter that has been haunting and mocking him for the last ten years of his life. The laughter that used to send fear down his veins, but now it made his blood bubble. Moonjin slowly walked down the stairs with his arms crossed around his chest.

"Did you really think it was going to be _that_ easy?" Moonjin snorted as he stood in front of Minho. "Come on buddy, I'm not stupid, I was expecting you to come."

Minho glared at him. "You-" He opened his mouth and began saying, but before he could get another word out, Moonjin quickly duck taped his mouth shut.

"I don't want to hear your annoying voice." The leader rolled his eyes.

Minho struggled against the guards again and he still couldn't budge. It brought the boy back to his darkest times of being tortured by Moonjin, of him struggling against the ropes that burned him. He was back in the same position, but this time it was guards who were holding him back and Moonjin was interested in torturing someone other than him.

Moonjin laughed at Minho's failed attempt at getting free. "You know, I expected more from you. You're the big 'Lee Minho'. The guy who can knock someone out with one punch. The guy that everyone fears, but here you are in front of me, _on your knees_, struggling to set yourself free from two guys." Moonjin pouted at him mockingly before rolling his eyes, "You're even more pathetic than I anticipated." He crossed his arms and looked at the gang member, smirking a little, "But I do enjoy seeing you kneeling in front of me like a peasant."

Minho couldn't do anything but glare. He didn't need to hear Moonjiin go on about how embarrassing this whole situation was to Minho, he already felt ashamed of himself.

The boss snorted and walked up to Jisung, who had tears falling down his face this entire time. Moonjin raised his hand which made Jisung flinched really hard, scared that he would get slapped again. Instead the leader of WPQO gently caressed his cheek. Jisung turned his head to the other side, trying to avoid Moonjin's touch, but of course the boss's hand followed after him, and touched his cheek no matter what.

"Don't touch me." Jisung snapped before he could stop himself and he immediately regretted speaking up. A flash of anger traveled through Moonjin's eyes, he huffed as he brought his hand back and slapped him with no hesitation. The boy winced as the sound of the slap echoed all around the room. The sound vibrated through Minho's ears and the sight of Jisung getting hurt in front of him would haunt him for the rest of his life.

The rage in Minho's stomach started boiling. He pulled at his arms, but still had no success of setting himself free. He forced himself onto his feet, but immediately got pulled back down as his knees clashed with the hard cement with a loud thud. It would've hurt him, but he wasn't paying attention to it. Minho tried yelling "Don't fucking touch him!" but it all got muffled by the tape on his mouth.

Moonjin looked at Minho struggle and snorted. He grabbed Jisung's face and forced the boy to look at Minho. He winced at Moonjin's harsh grab at his face as it was very sore from all the beatings he took. "Look, your lame boyfriend can't even protect and save you from me. Such a shame right? He's not as good as everyone makes him out to be. You should date someone who can actually look after you."

Jisung looked at the person he loved and made eye contact with him. Minho's eyes were covered with guilt, anger, frustration and pain. Jisung felt his heart ache at what Minho's eyes were displaying. He just wanted to tell him that he loved him and that none of this was his fault. Jisung didn't blame Minho for anything that has happened to him and he wish he could tell him that.

When Minho made eye contact with Jisung, he saw pure fear and sadness. It was like Jisung was begging him to save him and was upset that Minho couldn't even do that. His eyes had never looked so desperate and so traumatized, Minho couldn't help but feel useless. The person he loved was standing not even ten feet away, getting abused and he still couldn't protect him like he'd promised. Minho didn't deserve him, he wasn't good enough for him. The one person that Minho wanted to protect with his whole life, was bruised, bleeding and in pain, all because of him.

"I'll show you what a true man is." Moonjin said and Jisung looked at him with absolute terror in is eyes. He knew what was coming and didn't want it. He desperately started shaking his head.

"No, please don't." Jisung begged. Moonjin ignored his pleads and leaned closer to him making the other boy start to squirm. The boss gripped tighter around Jisung's face, making the boy cry out in pain and stop moving around. There were definitely going to be bruises there.

Moonjin forcefully placed his lips on top of Jisung's and started to kiss him sloppily. Jisung closed his mouth tightly and refused to kiss back. Moonjin tried to force his tongue into his mouth, but failed since the other wouldn't open his mouth open for nothing.

Minho started to yell at the top of his lungs, but the sound never traveled past the tape. He tried to get up and run to Jisung, he tried to pull his arms from the two guards, but this only made them tighten their grip on him and force him to the ground. Minho didn't give up though, he still continued to try to push himself to where Moonjin was.

Moonjin ignored Minho's muffled yelling as he pulled away from Jisung, looking at him with with a glare. Jisung took a deep breathe of relief, but that was soon taken away.

"You better kiss me back." Moonjin demanded.

Jisung shook his head. "Never."

The boss slammed his fist against the cement column that Jisung was tied up against. "You _will_ kiss me back or else I will take one of my guards' gun and shoot and kill him in front of your eyes." Moonjin growled while jabbing his finger at Minho's direction.

Jisung's eyes opened wide as a gasp escaped his lips. "Don't kill him _please_." He whispered.

"Then kiss me back you slut."

Minho started yelling again, "Don't do it! Don't kiss him back!" But it all became jumbled in his mouth from the tape.

Jisung quickly looked at Minho with frantic eyes. The gang member started shaking his head. He didn't want Jisung to feel like he has to kiss the bastard back just because Minho's life was on the line. He'd much rather die so Jisung wouldn't be forced into an uncomfortable kiss. Minho begged him not to do it with his eyes, the bruised boy didn't deserve this. Minho didn't want to be responsible for this too, the guilt would soon swallow him up.

Jisung's fearful eyes soon turned apologetic. "I'm sorry." He whispered to Minho. The gang member didn't understand why Jisung was apologizing. He should be the one saying sorry.

Jisung was guilty at the fact that Minho had to witness him kissing someone else. He didn't want to break Minho's heart, but he was doing this so the gang member could live. Jisung turned back to Moonjin and slightly nodded. "Fine." He said defeated.

Moonjin smirked, he turned to Minho for a second, winking at the boy before he looked back at Jisung, crashing his lips against the boy's.

Jisung hesitated for a second, not knowing if he was going to be able to kiss this twat back, but then he remembered about what would happen if he didn't.

'_I will take one of my guards' gun and shoot and kill him in front of your eyes.'_

Jisung swallowed his sob as he unwillingly moved his lips with Moonjin's, kissing him back.

The shorter boy tried to imagine himself kissing Minho which helped to some extent, but ultimately it wasn't enough. Jisung couldn't get pass the feeling of Moonjin's lips. When Jisung kissed Minho's lips, it felt soft and perfect, like a dream. Moonjin's lips felt crusty, like the dirt, like the reality he was going through right now.

Seeing the video that Moonjin sent made Minho's anger go absolutely wild, but now that he was forced to see this in real life, right in front of him and not being able to do anything, made him frustrated more than anything and his anger was easily a million times worse.

Moonjin kept trying to force his tongue inside Jisung's mouth, but the boy wouldn't allow it which only made the boss even more irritated. He grabbed Jisung's jaw again and tightened his grip on it, forcing the shorter male to open his mouth and wince in pain. Once Moonjin got the chance, he shoved his tongue inside Jisung's mouth, making the boy whimper.

Just when Minho thought it couldn't get any worse, Moonjin slipped his hands into Jisung's pants. Jisung immediately stopped kissing back and let out a sob. Jisung's sudden increase in movement, to try and get Moonjin off of him, and his muffled screams against the boss's lips, made it pretty clear to Minho that the bastard was touching somewhere that should never have touched in the first place. There were tears streaming down Jisung's face as he was violated for the second time.

That's what set Minho off. Something in his mind snapped and all he saw was red. This was the _one_ thing that he didn't want to happen. The _one _thing that he promised himself he would _never_ let happen. He never wanted Jisung to go through what he went through. He didn't want Jisung to ever feel as worthless as Minho felt when it happened to him. The fact that it was happening from the same exact person just ticked him off.

The next thing Minho knew, the two guards who were holding him down, were on the floor on either side of him, not breathing. The gang member snapped his attention back to the bastard. Moonjin was punching Jisung. Almost like he was trying to knock him out or even kill him.

Minho's eyes went black as he bolted over to Moonjin, grabbing his neck and pulling him away from Jisung. The bastard looked at Minho with wide eyes, either from not being able to breathe or from surprise that Minho was able to escape his two body guards' grasp and manage to kill them without even getting a scratch. Moonjin grabbed at the hand that was slowly tightening around his neck. He struggled to gasp for air as his face slowly turned red.

He would've ran out of air if Minho hadn't remembered what Chan had said to them before they over raided the house.

'_Whatever you do, don't kill Moonjin.'_

The gang member huffed and threw Moonjin on the floor. The bastard landed with a groan, he stayed on the floor, coughing for air and he lightly touched his neck. It was almost as if he thought that touching his neck would open his throat even more which would allow him to breathe more air.

Minho quickly ran over to the person he loved. Jisung looked up at him weakly, his face was bleeding and there were bruises all over him, old and new. The gang member felt his heart wrench up at the sight. He had caused that. All those cuts, bruises, the blood spilling, it was all his fault. Minho quickly untied his hands and ankles, which were red and irritated but not to the point of what Minho had put himself through years ago.

Jisung immediately dropped all his weight on Minho. The gang member didn't know if it was because Jisung was worn out and couldn't support his weight or if it was because Jisung had missed the boy so much. Maybe a mix of both, either way, Minho had missed his touch so much and felt a burst of happiness and relief for a split second.

"Jisung you need to get out of here. You need to go up there and find Woojin hyung. He'll take you to the car and keep you safe." Minho quickly said.

Jisung weakly shook his head, "N-no, I'm not leaving you. I'll only feel safe if you're there." He whispered.

_How could you say that? How do you still feel safe when I wasn't able to keep Moonjin away from you? I failed at protecting you before, why do you still feel safe around me?_

"Jisung you need to go _please_. If you don't then you're going to pass out and I don't want that to happen. I would hate myself even more." Minho carried Jisung to the door and set him down. "I'll be there soon I promise."

Jisung hesitated before nodding. Minho kissed his head before turning around to Moonjin who was struggling to stand up. The gang member walked over to him and the boy looked up at him. His eyes sparked fear for a split second before it was overtaken by satisfaction. Minho grabbed him and threw him against the wall. The loud thud echoed and vibrated through the house.

"Get up and fight you weak cunt." Minho seethed.

Moonjin sadly failed at the attempt to laugh, instead he started coughing. "Y-you know Minho, I now understand why you want Jisung so badly and why you love him."

Minho narrowed his eyes at the male on the ground. _What is he talking about?_

"He is an _amazing_ kisser, his lips are so soft... But do you know what else feels amazing? When you're inside of him." Moonjin smirked.

Minho froze and stopped breathing. _That's a lie. There is no way. _"W-what'd you say? How would you know?" He asked in disbelief. He didn't know if he wanted to hear the answer to his question.

Moonjin took this moment of Minho's utter shock to get up and punch him square in his face. Minho's mind was too distracted to see anything coming and ended up losing his balance by the punch. He landed on the ground with a grunt.

Moonjin laughed, getting right up in Minho's face. "I fucked him! Right after I sent that video to you." He said with too much pride. He forced his right foot on top of Minho's chest, leaning all his weight on him.

Minho felt the air get sucked out of him, he didn't know if it was because of Moonjin's weight or from the thing that he had just said. "No that's a lie." Minho tried to convince himself. Moonjin shook his head, denying his claims which only made the gang member sick to his stomach. "Stop fucking lying!" He shouted.

_It can't be real. No it's all a lie. Moonjin's just saying this to mess with me. He couldn't have actually done that to Jisung._

The twat snorted. "Minho you know what I'm capable of, I've done it to you a couple of times. Don't you remember? You loved it and Jisung did too."

Minho shut his eyes and shook his head. His mind took him back to the room where it all started. Where Moonjin had complete control over him. Even after so many years, Moonjin was able to get inside his head and mess with him. He was under that bastard's hold no matter what, there was no escaping him.

Moonjin smiled at Minho's sudden blind spot of weakness. "This is all _your_ fault. _You_ did this to Jisung. This happened to him because of _you_." He fed into Minho's guilt.

"Stop! Stop it! Don't fucking say that!" Minho tried to sound demanding, but instead he sounded desperate and begged Moonjin to stop talking.

Moonjin smiled in satisfaction. "It's true, but let me just say, you got a keeper. It felt amazing and it was mind blowing. He's really good with his mouth too, he seemed experienced. And even when you stretch him, he's still a little ti-"

Minho saw red again, but this time it was a deeper, more vibrant red, like the color of blood. He didn't want to hear the story of how this bastard fucked the person he loved. Minho shouted and kicked Moonjin off of him. He quickly got up and started punching Moonjin recklessly.

Minho couldn't stop, he didn't want to stop. He didn't care if he killed the bastard on the spot or not, his mind was taken over by his rage. Minho hit as hard as he could and Moonjin was knocked out after the third hit, but the gang member kept punching. He was letting out all his anger, his anger at Moonjin for taking advantage of the person he loved, but also his anger at himself for not being able to keep Jisung away from him.

Minho didn't stop until Chan came rushing down the stairs and grabbed him, pulling him off of Moonjin. The gang member still pushed forward, trying to go back to the bastard to continue to punch and kick him, but Chan didn't let him go.

"Minho STOP!" Chan yelled, snapping the boy from his trance.

He turned to his leader, "Why!? Why should I stop?" Minho yelled back.

"If you kill him right now, then it'll be too easy for him. Don't you want to torture him and elongate his pain as much as possible?" Chan reasoned with the boy.

Minho sighed and ran his hand through his hair from frustration. He knew his leader was right but he also just wanted to kill him, finally see the man die from his hands.

"I'll take care of Moonjin, you go check up on Jisung. I don't think he's doing good." Chan spoke.

Minho whipped his head to the older male, his heart started racing. "What do you mean he's not doing good? Did he pass out when he found Woojin? What happened?"

"When he found Woojin?" Chan gave a look of confusion. "He never went to look for Woojin."

Now it was Minho's turn to be confused. "What?" He whispered.

"Woojin and I found him passed out in front of the basement door." Chan explained.

Minho's eyes went wide. "Y-you what?"

"He was on the floor in front of the basement door unconscious."

Minho quickly started sprinting up the stairs and out of the door. _Did he really stay at the door to be near me instead of getting help for himself? Why the hell would he risk his life just to be close to me? God Jisung you're a dumbass, why would you wait for me when I told you not to._

As he ran through the house to to front door, he saw a pile of unconscious bodies that were tied up in the corner. He ran to the suv that was parked in front of the home. He swung the car door open and there was Woojin, taking care of Jisung and his wounds. The rest of the gang and Yedam were gathered around Jisung, with worried faces.

They all looked up at Minho with sad faces making his heart drop to his ass. "H-how is he?"

"Come in!" Woojin demanded and Minho quickly climbed into the car and sat next to Jisung. "Changbin drive now." The oldest demanded again. Changbin nodded his head and climbed into the driver's seat, starting the car. The boy stepped in the gas pedal and raced to the destination that Minho didn't know.

"Where are we going?" He asked confused.

"We need to take him to the hospital." Woojin answered.

Minho inhaled sharply. The hospital, a place where the gang never went to. Their doctor was Woojin, he was absolutely talented with medical stuff and knew how to treat a wound faster than most of the doctors out there.

"Can't you do something?" Minho asked worried.

Woojin shook his head, "I'm good at treating people and medical things related to gang wounds and stuff. I can probably take care of him, but I don't want to risk Jisung's life when he could just get help from a doctor. They have more equipment than me too. It'll be faster at the hospital."

"What about Chan hyung?" Yedam asked.

"He still needs stay here and deal with the unconscious bodies. He'll call the other members of Stray Kids for help with them." Hyunjin explained.

Minho turned to Jisung looking at him. He grabbed the boy's hand, pulling it up to his mouth to kiss the back of his hand.

_Please, please wake up. Don't leave me yet. I'm not ready for that. Fight it Jisung, for me, I want more time with you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter got really uncomfortable at the end and i was debating whether or not to delete it and write it more undescriptive and somewhat metaphoric(?) but i decided against it bc i felt like it wouldn't have made you as angry as you were while reading what moonjin said. i'm sorry if you felt uncomfortable but that's what i was going for. opinions? i hope you enjoyed it hehe :)
> 
> what if i told you that this story is almost finished..?
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- i'm sorry  
\- death
> 
> tell me what you think it gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	43. f o r t y t w o .

** _BEEP... BEEP... BEEP_ **

That's all Jisung could hear. That annoying beeping sound. He couldn't open his eyes, it felt heavy, like his eyes were glued shut. He wanted to go back to sleep, but he couldn't. Where was he? What was that beeping sound and where was it coming from?

Suddenly he heard someone sniffling. His senses slowly started coming back and the pain and soreness all attacked him at once. He groaned in pain, slowly being able to open his eyes finally, only to shut them immediately from the sudden brightness. He slowly and uncomfortably, raised one of his hands to shield his eyes from the light.

He heard the sounds of gasps and footsteps shuffling. The next time he opened his eyes, the room wasn't as bright anymore, someone had dimmed the lights, making it easier for his eyes to adjust to the lighting.

Once Jisung's eyes had eased into the brightness, he noticed that he was in the white room that he knew to hate. He turned to his left and met with teary eyes and relieved eyes.

"Hey hyung, hey noona." Jisung croaked.

Just hearing his voice made Jihyo start spilling tears. "I'm so glad you woke up." She sniffed.

"Don't cry noona, please don't cry." Jisung begged. He wanted to reach up and wipe her tears away, but he was too weak.

"How are you feeling bud?" Brian asked softly.

"Sore, but nothing I haven't felt before." Jisung shrugged.

His brother gave a sad smile, "I'll go get the doctor." He said as he left.

The doctor arrived almost immediately and he just did some simple tests on Jisung and asked how he was feeling, nothing big or special since the boy had just woken up. The doctor left soon after, giving Jisung some time to relax.

"How long was I out?" Jisung asked.

"Two days? Maybe even three." Brian replied.

Jisung's eyes went wide. _I've been out for that long? What the hell?_ Then Jisung's stomach folded inside itself, "Where's Minho?" The boy asked.

Jihyo and Brian looked at each other, not answering Jisung's question. This only made the younger's heart rate go higher which was heard by the heart monitor as it started beeping faster, "Where's Minho?!" He asked frantically. Jisung tried to get up, only slumped back down into his bed, groaning in pain.

"Woah Jisung, stay in your bed, you can't be moving too much it won't help you in any way." Brian said sternly.

"And Minho's outside. He's been here all day and night since the moment you came inside here." Jihyo answered.

"I want to see him." Jisung said.

"Maybe you should rest for a bit first." Jihyo suggested.

Jisung huffed, "No! I want to see Minho!" He demanded making his older siblings sigh.

"Okay okay, we'll go get him." Brian said softly before him and Jisung's sister opened the door and left the room.

Jisung sat in his hospital bed nervous. He felt his heart quicken and he felt a zoo running in his gut. He didn't understand why he was so nervous though. Maybe because of the fact that they've never really had a proper conversation since Minho broke up with him. They had that brief talk when he saved Jisung, but that didn't really count, they both had their feelings all in chaos.

Jisung heard the doorknob turning and he felt his breathing increase. The door opened and he finally saw the boy he fell in love with. Minho had his vision on the floor when he walked inside the room. Jisung could tell that the boy didn't get any rest during the three days that he was unconscious. Minho had bags under his eyes, his hair looked tousled but he wore different clothes. His hands were treated and bandaged. Still, he managed to look as beautiful as ever.

"Minho." Jisung whispered.

The gang member didn't say anything, instead he walked over to Jisung's left side of the bed. He reached out and grabbed the injured male's hand, holding it in his hand so delicately. It was like Minho was scared that if he held Jisung's hand any other way then it would break.

"Minho." Jisung said louder this time, wanting to get the boy to look at him, but he still didn't. The injured boy sighed, "Where's Moonjin?"

"He's tied up in a locked room at Stray Kids' warehouse." He explained with his eyes locked on their holding hands.

Minho was right there, but for some reason, he felt distant to Jisung and he couldn't take it. "Minho." He said again.

Instead of looking at Jisung, it seemed like Minho snapped back to reality as he quickly let go of his hand and stepped back, making the shorter boy frown, he already missed his touch. He didn't understand why the gang member let go.

"I-I'm sorry." Minho finally spoke, but it wasn't what Jisung expected to hear. "You probably don't want me touching you." He said.

The seated boy only frowned even more, _what does he mean?_"Why wouldn't I want you holding my hand?" He asked.

"Because, you have every right to not want me to touch you."

Jisung furrowed his eyebrows, "What're you talking about?"

"It's all my fault. The reason you're in this hospital, the reason why you're in a lot of pain, everything that Moonjin..." his voice died out as he shook his head. "I was supposed to be there to protect you. Even when I was there, I wasn't able to stop him. It's all because of me and I'm so sorry Jisung. I never wanted that to happen to you."

"Minho, come here." Jisung said and the boy hesitantly walked over to him. He fought the pain and grabbed Minho's hand. "None of this is your fault. You and my friends warned me not to go to his house, but I still did. You tried to keep me safe but it was _me_ who didn't listen to you. Don't blame yourself for something you couldn't control. And you did save me from him. How was I able to get out of that basement? Because you and the gang found me and you were the one who untied me and carried me to the door of the basement, telling me to go find help. I would still be in that basement if it wasn't for you."

Minho held his head low, "If I wasn't an idiot and didn't break up with you then you wouldn't have gone to his house."

Jisung sighed, "Stop it. Moonjin explained why you broke up with me and you just did what you thought was best for me. You didn't have a choice, he was going to take me either way. Minho, if you think about it, all the things you blame yourself for, you did it because you thought it was going to keep me safe. There was absolutely no way for you to know the outcomes of the situations so I don't blame you and you shouldn't either."

"...I made one promise to myself." Minho started, making Jisung stay quiet, "I promised myself that I would _never_ let Moonjin get ahold of you. I _never_ wanted you to get into Moonjin's arms. I _never_ wanted you to go through what I went through, I would rather go through it a million times than have you go through it once. I failed at the one thing I swore myself to never let happen. That's my fault, if I never let you get close with me then you wouldn't have ever had to meet that bastard. I don't understand how you can still talk to me or even want to see me after what happened."

Jisung stayed quiet for a few seconds. "You probably already know this, but when you told me to go get help, I didn't and stayed at the door."

"Why did you do that Jisung? I didn't want you to stay with me because I knew you would become unconscious. The last three days..." Minho stopped talking and closed his eyes, "I thought I lost you." He whispered.

Jisung frowned and squeezed Minho's hand weakly, "But you didn't. And I'm sorry, I just couldn't bring myself to leave you again and also because I was too weak to even move any further from the door." Minho stayed quiet and Jisung continued with what he was saying, "But when I was there, I heard everything Moonjin said-"

"It's okay you don't have to talk about it. I don't want you to feel forced to talk about anything that makes you uncomfortable." Minho interrupted. He knew exactly what Jisung was referring to.

"Just listen to me." The boy said and the gang member hesitantly nodded.

"What he said were lies. He never made me give him a..." Jisung didn't even want to finish the sentence. "And after he sent you the video, he never actually um... you know. He said those things just to get a reaction out of you. The most he did with me was, uh, what you saw. I hated every single second of it and it made me feel so... violated and gross."

Jisung paused for a second and at first Minho felt a little bit of relief, Jisung still had his innocence and didn't have that stripped away from him unwillingly. But the fact that he still had to go through getting touched unwillingly, was enough for Minho to let the guilt eat away at him. He closed his eyes, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish I could just take that experience from you."

"You didn't let me finish." Jisung said and Minho immediately shut his mouth. "I never want to talk about it again and I just want to forget that that ever happened, but first I wanna let you know that I don't blame you for what happened to me. You had no control over it. This was all apart of Moonjin's plan. He knew that if you broke up with me, then you wouldn't take care of yourself, making you get weaker than usual and it would make me an open target. He had every little detail planned out. I don't blame you for that because I did the same thing, my siblings had to force food into my mouth to get me to eat."

Jisung paused for a bit before continuing, "And I'm sorry too." He hung his head low. Minho furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. There was absolutely no reason for the boy to be apologizing.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"For... um... kissing Moonjin." Jisung whispered.

Minho frowned, "I'm not mad at you for that. I'm mad at myself. I didn't want you to kiss Moonjin because I didn't want you to do something you weren't comfortable with just for my sake. I told you not to, why'd you do it?"

"For the same reason why you wanted me to go get help." Jisung answered. "I didn't want to see you get shot Minho. If me kissing him would've kept you safe, then it was a no brainer for me, even if I hated every single second of it, at least it would keep you alive."

Minho's face softened, but before he could say anything, Jisung continued, "I don't regret getting close to you. I would do it again and again. I don't care if it means I have to go through that again and again too. You're confused as to why I would want to see you after everything that happened to me, but it's because _none_ of it was your fault, and I'm not saying that just to make you feel better or anything, I truly believe with my whole heart that none of it was your fault, because it wasn't, and I don't blame you for any of it. Minho I love you and it never faded away. Being with you has made me the happiest I've ever been in my life and I won't ever stop loving you."

Minho looked up at Jisung for the first time and his eyes were filled with hope, but it was soon taken over by sadness as he looked away again, "I don't want you to be in any danger anymore. As long as you're dating me, you're going to be in the risk of getting hurt again and I don't want that."

Jisung scoffed, "What about what I want? I don't give a flying fuck if there's a risk of me getting hurt again. I can't stay away from you Minho, I'm too involved with you to be able to leave you and live a normal life. I was a complete mess when you broke up with me and you want me to do that forever? My heart belongs to you and I'm going to be with you through whatever obstacle we have to fight through because I believe in _us_. You want me to stay away to keep me safe, but the only way I feel safe is when I'm with you. I need you Minho, can't you see that?" His voice gave out in the end as a few tears started falling down his face.

Minho froze for a split second. All these waves of feelings crashed into his body. Before he could even think, he leaned down and crashed his lips on the Jisung's lips. Minho had missed the other male's lips so much. They met in a kiss filled with emotion, pouring out the feelings they were piling up for the last few weeks.

"Be my boyfriend again." Minho asked once they pulled apart. Their faces were still very close to each other.

Instead of answering, Jisung kissed Minho again. When they pulled away, Minho broke out into a smile, it was the first time he smiled since before he broke up with Jisung. "God I love you so much." He whispered.

-

Jisung was sitting in his hospital room, waiting for his best friends. Minho had told him that he had to leave the room because there were three people who were dying to talk to Jisung and the boy immediately knew who he was talking about. Jisung missed his friends so much.

Just then the door swung open and in the doorway stood his friends with teary eyes making Jisung form tears in his eyes.

"Jisung oh my god." Seungmin breathed out.

"I missed you so much." Felix cried.

"How are you feeling hyung?" Jeongin asked worried.

All three of them came rushing inside and running to Jisung's bedside with a few tears that fell from their eyes.

"I missed you guys too and I've been better, but I'm just really happy right now." Jisung replied back.

"You dumb shit, I told you not to go to his house." Seungmin said with tears falling down his face. He gently hugged Jisung.

"I know I know. I'm never gonna ignore what you guys tell me anymore." Jisung laughed lightly.

"You had us so worried hyung." Jeongin pouted.

Jisung frowned and ruffled Jeongin's hair, "I know, I'm sorry Innie."

"I was almost killed by your siblings because I had to lie to them to cover up that you were missing. I really thought my death had come when I saw them enter the hospital." Felix said, making Jisung chuckle. "But you have no idea how long these last five days have been." He sighed.

"Oh my god the amount of fear I had inside of me is enough to last the rest of my life." Seungmin mumbled.

"How are you and Minho hyung?" Jeongin asked hopeful.

"We're back together." Jisung smiled brightly.

"Oh thank god." Seungmin sighed of relief.

"He was a complete wreck without you." Felix commented.

"How do you know?" Jisung raised his eyebrows.

Felix's eyes widened, Jisung didn't know that the three of them demanded Minho to tell them the truth. "Uh... Okay so we might've went to the gang's house to force Minho to tell us the truth in why he broke up with you because we knew it wasn't because he stopped loving you."

Jisung's mouth opened a little, "You guys did not..."

"Hey we only did it because we didn't know how else to help you and we thought that if we knew the real reason then we could help you cope with it." Seungmin defended their motive.

Jisung chuckled lightly, "You guys are ridiculous."

"Sorry we didn't tell you hyung, we promised Minho hyung that we wouldn't." Jeongin frowned.

"It's okay. I'm not mad." Jisung smiled.

"Okay but you gave us an actual heart attack when you said you were at Moonjin's house. I called Hyunjin and told him everything. He then told Minho and he picked us up." Seungmin started.

"When we got to the house, we walked up to Minho's floor and saw him with his back against the wall with his head in his hands. Saying that Moonjin took you. The gang then started doing everything they could to find you. The three of us felt useless cause we couldn't do anything to help look for you." Felix continued.

"It was a very slow day and all three of us couldn't go to bed since we were so worried and scared but eventually we crashed. I guess we were very tired because we were woken up by Chan hyung, saying that you were in the hospital. We rushed here and we never left since." Jeongin finished.

Jisung felt guilty, he had worried his friends so much just because his stupid stubborn ass wouldn't listen to them, "I'm sorry for worrying you guys so much."

"Stop apologizing, we're fine and happy now that you're alive and okay." Seungmin smiled and the other two boys agreed making Jisung give a genuine smile.

-

After his friends left, the rest of the gang came in briefly to check on Jisung. The injured boy thanked them for everything they did to try and find him and they waved the thank off, saying that it was a no brainer for them to do everything they can to try and find him as they were extremely worried for him too. They were all very glad that he was doing good now.

After they left, Jisung's siblings came back into the room and looked at their little brother and he looked back at them with confused eyes. Their stare made him feel like he did something wrong. "What did I do?" He asked

"Jisung what happened?" Jihyo asked softly.

The boy sighed, he didn't want to explain the story because it would only make his siblings even more worried and he didn't want that. But he knew he had to explain everything to them at some point.

Jisung explained everything. From the moment Moonjin had first entered their school, to the moment he followed Jisung and his friends and when he got the envelope, to the connection between Minho and Moonjin and the gang, to the moment the he entered Moonjin's house, and to the moment he arrived and finally left the basement. Of course Jisung slipped some most details of Minho's backstory and the details of what went down in the basement because he didn't want his siblings to go absolutely haywire.

His older siblings took a deal breathe, trying to comprehend all the information that was thrown at them. They had to keep their cool.

"Jisung, do you still love Minho?" Brian asked.

"Yeah I do." Jisung said immediately.

"Are you sure you want to date him again? Even after everything that happened to you?"

Jisung sighed, "Everything that happened to me wasn't Minho's fault. Everything he did to me was because he wanted to avoid me getting hurt. But I still love him and I going to be with him until the end."

Both his siblings nodded saying "Okay."

Jisung sat there confused a little, he expected his siblings to protest or ask more questions at least. "You're not mad?" He asked slowly.

They both shook their head, "Of course we're not mad. We both believe that Minho is a good guy and wouldn't purposefully get you into any danger." Jihyo said.

"And we fully support you guys." Brian added.

Jisung felt relief overflow his body and his eyes filled with tears that were threatening to fall. He was really grateful for his understanding siblings. "Thanks guys."

"But if you give us a heart attack again then we'll throw your ass to the depths of the Mariana Trench." Jihyo warned making Jisung smile out of slight fear.

"How'd you guys know I was missing?" Jisung said to change the subject.

"We actually didn't know you were gone." Brian said.

Jisung gave them a look of pure betrayal and hurt. Jihyo quickly whacked her older brother's head. "He doesn't mean it like that. We called your phone a couple times, but it went straight to voicemail so we got a little worried. Then we called Felix and asked if we knew where you were. He said that you were hanging with them and that your phone just died. We asked to speak with you, but he said that you were sleeping so we just figured that he was telling the truth because it's Felix." Jihyo said with an underline of saltiness.

"Then we got a phone call from Seungmin saying that you were in the hospital and when we asked why, he explained that Felix lied and that you were actually missing." Brian said.

"While driving to the hospital, I was plotting Felix's death, but as I thought about it more, I started to become more thankful that he lied to us because if he didn't then I don't know what I would've done." Jihyo said and Brian agreed.

Jisung snorted. "How long do I have to stay in here?"

"Umm a few days?" Jihyo said, not too sure.

The younger male groaned, "the next few days are gonna be the longest days of my life."

"It won't be too bad. We'll all be here to entertain you and give you food because I know how bad hospital food is."

"Yeah true." Jisung agreed, "Does mom and dad know I'm here?"

"Oh hell no." Brian scoffed. "And we are _not_ telling them." He ordered and the other two siblings agreed, laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry for scaring you with the 'death' chapter hint! also sorry for the late update, i wasn't planning to update today but last minute i decided to do it.
> 
> anyways, i hope you enjoyed this chapter and take a shot every time i say "i don't blame you" or "it isn't your fault."
> 
> you guys survived all the sad chapters. the worst part is over !!
> 
> what do you want to happen to moonjin?
> 
> no chapter hints but tell me what you think is gonna happen in the next chapter :)


	44. f o r t y t h r e e .

** _A few weeks later_ **

The entire gang and their boyfriends stood in front of the Stray Kids warehouse. It was placed in the middle of nowhere just like Chan's house, but it was a lot larger than what Jisung expected. He looked at his three friends and they have the same surprised expression on their face.

Minho grabbed Jisung's hand and all ten of them started walking to the entrance. When they walked inside Jisung was taken by surprise by how many people were there. It was almost like this was a business building and Chan was the CEO. It wasn't that too far off to be honest.

When Chan walked by, everyone stopped what they were doing and bowed to him, saying their greetings. It was just like in school but this time Chan actually said hi back while smiling. Everyone's faces wrinkled in confusion when they saw the four boys walking with their members, but they never asked.

The ten of them walked into an elevator and the leader pressed the very last floor. When the elevator doors opened, Jisung noticed that it noticeably got colder. The elevator took the boys to a hallway filled with metal doors on either side of them. It reminded Jisung of a prison or an insane asylum.

_This was definitely where the gang is keeping the members of WPQO at._

They kept walking until the very end. There were double metal doors and there were two guards in front of them. They bowed to Chan and moved away from the door. He opened the door and walked inside the room with the rest of them following behind.

Minho didn't walk which caused Jisung to turn to his boyfriend with confused eyes. The gang member looked at him with worry. "Are you sure you want to go in there?" Minho asked softly.

Jisung smiled warmly at him, nodding, "I'll be okay as long as you're with me."

Minho looked in Jisung's eyes, looking for any doubt or fear, but when he didn't find anything, he took a deep breath and opened the door.

Jisung would be lying if he wasn't nervous. He was about to see the guy who held him hostage for two days and tortured him, but Minho was sure to tell him that Moonjin was all tied up and wouldn't be able to get out. Also the fact that there were going to be five other gang members in the room to keep Jisung safe was very calming to know.

When he walked inside, he noticed four guards also in the room, but what caught his eye was Moonjin. He was sitting in the middle of the room in a metal chair. His hands and ankles were held down to the arms and legs of the chair with metal cuffs that were attached to the chair. His physical state was absolutely horrific. He looked a lot worse compared to what Jisung looked like when Minho had came to save him. Moonjin's eyes were completely bruised, one was swollen shut. His lips were busted and his face was filled with purple and black bruises. There was dried blood all over him and his hair looked like it had been pulled many times. Just by looking at him, Jisung cringed in pain, he almost felt a bad for the guy.

The moment Moonjin saw Jisung walk into the room, he smirked. "Oh hey Jisung, how are you holding up? Back for more? You just couldn't stay away huh?" 

Everyone inhaled sharply as Jisung immediately tensed up and Minho noticed. He felt the lava inside himself start bubbling as he started walking towards Moonjin to beat him. Jisung noticed and instantly stood in front of Minho, placing his hand on his chest.

Minho looked down at his boyfriend and his eyes immediately softened, "He's just trying to get a reaction out of you." Jisung said to his boyfriend.

Moonjin noticed this and started laughing almost mockingly and if it weren't for Jisung standing in front of him, Minho would've knocked the bastard into unconsciousness.

Seungmin, on the other hand had so much anger and pure hatred built up for Moonjin, the comment and the laughter coming from him was all it took to set him off. Seungmin let go of Hyunjin's hand and marched over to where the bastard was sitting at. Before Moonjin or anyone had time to react, Seungmin brought his fist back and swung it at full force to his already swore cheek. The sudden attack cut Moonjin's laugh short and was replaced with a grunt and groan.

Stray Kids opened their eyes wide. They knew Seungmin had more balls than the average person, but they didn't know he was actually going to punch Moonjin. They've never seen Seungmin fight anyone. Jisung, Felix, and Jeongin on the other hand weren't fazed or shocked. They knew it was coming and it wasn't anything they haven't seen before.

"You have _a lot_ of balls to say all that shit when _your_ puny ass is tied to a fucking chair. You're laughing like you're all high and shit when in reality you're locked in a cold cell getting tortured everyday from your enemy gang and everyone in your own goddamn gang is dead since you failed at whatever plan you were trying to enforce, you cheap bitch. Don't _ever_ degrade _my_ best friend when _you're_ the biggest humiliation of all." Seungmin seethed.

Of course he lied a little. Moonjin's gang wasn't dead, but Stray Kids all agreed to lie to Moonjin and tell him they were to help push him to tell the truth.

Moonjin blinked, absolutely speechless. He soon hung his head low and Seungmin scoffed as he walked back to Hyunjin who kissed his cheek and looked as proud as ever to call him his boyfriend.

"We were told by our guards that you would expose your whole plan to us if Minho and Jisung were present." Chan spoke sternly and Moonjin nodded.

"Talk." The leader demanded, leaving no room for protests.

Moonjin looked up again and his eyes shot straight at Minho and Jisung for a few seconds before he scanned the rest of the room. "Are you sure you want them to be in the room too." He asked lazily at Minho, motioning his head towards everyone else in the room.

The gang member furrowed his eyebrows, "Why?"

Moonjin shrugged, "Are you sure you want them to hear what I'm about to say?"

Minho looked at his brothers with confused eyes and they looked at him with the same expression. _What the hell was Moonjin about to say and why wouldn't I want them to hear it?_

"Of course I'm sure." Minho said, narrowing his eyes at the tied up male.

"Okayyy." Moonjin elongated. "You're probably wondering why I chose Minho. Why him? Why not someone else? What did Minho do for me to torture him like I did? Well let me tell you a little story from when I was younger."

-

It was a Friday and Moonjin was out with his parents gettin some ice cream. It was a tradition in their family, getting ice cream after dinner every Friday. It was a treat for them for surviving the week and it was a way for them to spend some time together at the same time. It was one of Moonjin's favorite things to do and he looked forward to it every week.

He always got the chocolate ice cream in a cone while his parents got vanilla in a cup. Since Moonjin was eight, he was allowed to get whatever topping he wanted. He loved the sprinkles.

After getting their ice cream the family sat outside of the ice cream parlor to enjoy their dessert. The family spent their time laughing and talking with each other about their week or whatever came up. When they were done, they walked back home since the parlor wasn't very far from their house.

At home, Moonjin and his parents sat on the couch to watch some movies. Today they were watching his favorite movie, Monsters Inc. When the movie was close to done, Moonjin heard glass breaking, like someone had broken the window. He saw his parents sit up straight from the sound, looking at each other with wide eyes.

Then the sound of heavy footsteps resonated through the house. Moonjin's dad quickly looked at his wife, "Take Moonjin and hide. Now." He whisper shouted. His mom wanted to protest but she knew she didn't have anytime and she didn't want her child to get hurt, so she grabbed Moonjin and ran to hide in the coat closet.

Moonjin could clearly see the living room from the cracks of the door. His mom covered his mouth with her hand, just in case he made a sound. Moonjin saw a man come into the living room with one of their biggest kitchen knifes, the ones that Moonjin's mom always told him not to touch. 

He stood in front of Moonjin's dad and swung the knife at him, luckily his dad moved just in time and whacked the man with the golf club he found in the living room. The man groaned out in pain and got back up, more angry than before. Moonjin's dad screamed at the guy to leave. The intruder waited until Moonjin's dad swung the golf club again then grabbed the club, pulling it towards him, his dad wasn't expecting that to happen and fumbled foreword. The intruder held the knife out in front of him so when Moonjin's dad lost his balance, he fell right on top of the knife. Moonjin saw his dad get stabbed right in the heart.

The man pushed the knife further into his dad's body, making him open his eyes wide in pain, he let out inaudible noses from his mouth. The intruder soon pulled the knife out of his dad's body and let his body fall onto the floor.

Moonjin screamed out in fear. He tried to get up and go to his dad, but his mom was holding him back and shushing him. Unfortunately, the intruder heard the screams and turned towards the closet that Moonjin and his mom were hiding in, he smirked and started walking towards the closet. Moonjin's mom quickly hid her son behind her and started crying. "I love you Moonjin." She whispered.

The closet door opened harshly and he felt his mom being pulled away by the same man that killed his father. He saw the man drag her screaming body to the living room. She begged and begged him not to hurt her, but this guy ignored her pleads as he sunk the knife in her heart just like he did with her husband. Her voice soon stopped abruptly as he pulled the knife away and dropped her body on the floor.

Moonjin screamed at the top of his lungs again. The intruder snapped his neck to the closet Moonjin was hiding in and started walking towards it again, but suddenly stopped. Moonjin could hear sirens in the distance that were getting closer and closer. The man dropped the knife and ran as fast as he could out of the house.

Moonjin ran out of the closet over to where his parents were lying in a pool of their own blood. He broke down and cried his heart out while holding his mom's hand.

"NO, NO!" He cried at the top of his lungs. He felt like someone had taken the lungs out of his chest along with his heart.

Moonjin didn't really realize when the police barged into his home. His mind was black, his hearing went mute and he couldn't take his eyes off of his dead parents.

"They're both dead." Was all Moonjin heard and that was all that floated in his mind. Those three words.

The next few minutes were a blur. He saw his parents being zipped up in the black body bags and he was carried out to the cop car. While driving to the police station, Moonjin promised himself one thing, he would live in this world solely to get revenge on the person who killed his parents.

The boy arrived in the police station and stayed there for a few days while the police officers decided what they would do with the boy. Both his parents were an only child so he had no relatives to live with. Ultimately they decided to take him to the orphanage, but while Moonjin was staying at the police station for the few days, the police officers found out who the murderer was. They immediately went out to catch the culprit.

Moonjin stayed behind in the station, he was very fidgety as he was itching to know who killed his parents. The officers that went out to catch the murderer talked to the officers at the station every once in a while with their walkie talkies, updating them on the situation. Luckily Moonjin was able to hear everything.

"He's dead. He hung himself in his bedroom. There's a suicide note though." Moonjin heard from the walkie talkie and his world stopped.

He wanted to scream and cry out in frustration. _It 's not fair that the scumbag took the easy way out. It's not fair that the bastard was able to kill my parents and then cheat his death. What is the point of me living now?_

"Wait there's a child in the basement. His name's Lee Minho and he's the son of Lee Taehyuck. Quick run his name through the system and try to find relatives or something." The walkie talkie said.

Moonjin lifted his head at that. _Lee Minho._Maybe all hope for Moonjin wasn't lost. Maybe he had a new reason to live. _Lee Minho, I will make your life a living hell and you will pay for what your father did to my parents._

** _-_ **

"Then after that I was taken to the orphanage and maybe a day or so later, you arrived at the same orphanage. I spread rumors about you to all the other kids which is why no one talked to you and would bully you." Moonjin explained. "So long story short, the sole reason why I tried to ruin your life, was for payback, because your fucking dad killed my parents and ruined my life."

The room was dead quiet, so quiet that you could hear your own heartbeat. No one knew what they were expecting, but no one was expecting Moonjin to say that and they were taken aback.

"It was your parents who my dad killed." Minho said in disbelief.

Moonjin glared at the son of the murderer, he tried to attack Minho, but he was held back from the restraints. The guards took a step towards Moonjin for caution, but the boy didn't attempt it again. "Yeah you twat, it was my parents that died in your father's dirty hands. It was for the most pointless and idiotic reason too."

Minho furrowed his eyebrows, "How do you know the reason?"

Moonjin scoffed, "When I got older, I snuck into the police station and read the suicide note he left. He explained everything. It started off with some bullshit of how he never thought he was capable of doing something like that and that he can't live with himself for the shit he did or whatever the fuck which is why he hung himself. Then he explained that he did it because he saw how happy my family was and it reminded him how happy your family used to be before your mom died. He didn't like seeing a family that was happy while his family crumbled. That led to my miserable life."

Minho stayed quiet. He didn't know what to say, it was a lot of information to take in and he didn't know how to wrap his head around it.

"What does Jisung have to do with anything though? What was your plan?" Chan asked.

Moonjin looked at Jisung for a split second before he looked at Minho, "I spent a lot of my life, crafting the perfect plan to bring you down. I thought about torturing you and then killing you, but after you ran away from our foster home, I realized that that would be too easy for you and I wouldn't have been satisfied. I wanted you to feel the same pain I felt when I had someone that I loved killed in front of me. When we met Jaewoo, I told him about it and he wanted to help me. After you ran away, him and I joined a gang and we soon earned the leader position. Jaewoo and I crafted the perfect plan."

Moonjin paused and everyone stayed silent, waiting for him to expose his plan. "I was willing to wait until you fell in love with someone. Once I knew you were in love with someone, I was going to take them and torture them in the basement of an old house. I was gonna leave a working cell phone in the basement so your loved one would find it and call you. I knew, you would be able to find where I was staying by tracking the phone and I knew you would obviously come searching for your boyfriend. So I made sure my guards would be in the basement while you entered so they could hold you down and force you to watch me as Jaewoo and I tortured your boyfriend. Then after we had our fun, I was going to kill him in front of your eyes. I didn't care if you would've killed me afterwards because by then I would've already fulfilled my duty."

The gang stayed silent. Chills traveled down Jisung's back when he realized how close Moonjin was to completing his plan, how so many details in his plan actually followed through.

Moonjin continued " At first, no one but me and Jaewoo knew about the plan. We didn't tell WPQO about it because then we would have to explain everything including what we did to you. But when you killed Jaewoo, it gave me the perfect excuse to tell them about the plan. My gang hated you and was more willing to help hurt you by capturing the person you loved. Of course they didn't actually have any interest in hurting Jisung, they much rather would've tortured you instead. In fact, they were very against me torturing Jisung, but they didn't have a choice but to deal with it since I'm their leader. I told them that they could do whatever they wanted to you when you came to try and save Jisung."

"So you're telling me that your gang had no idea what had happened to you or why you hated me so much?" Minho asked.

"No I never talked about the plan with them until you killed Jaewoo and I told them that it was revenge for Jaewoo's life, which it partially was."

"So why did they think I killed Jaewoo? What'd you tell them?"

"Some bullshit lie. I told them that we used to be really good school friends when we were younger until Jaewoo showed up in the picture and took me away from you which resulted in you getting jealous and angry at him so you wanted to get revenge on him ever since."

It all made sense to the gang members on why Jisung wanted to keep the rest of WPQO alive, because they didn't know anything and were somewhat innocent. Killing them would've gone against Stray Kids' morals.

"What kind of bullshit? So you lied to them! You didn't tell them what you did to me! They think I'm the bad guy and that you and Jaewoo were innocent people." Minho growled.

"You are the fucking bad guy. Your dad killed my parents for no reason, At least I had a good reason for what I was doing to you. You deserved being tortured and raped." He spat and everyone inhaled sharply, they couldn't believe what he was saying and stood still in absolute shock. Minho stayed quiet.

Moonjin continued, "Anyways, my gang and I waited and waited until you fell in love, but it took so long that we honestly started losing hope. Until finally, one day you saved Jisung from that gang. Yeonjun saw you and told me about it."

"Yeonjun was the guy who was following us wasn't he?" Jisung asked.

The tied up boy laughed, "Yeah, he wasn't following you because you guys were going the same way his house was. He was following you for me. Anyways, he told me about it and thought Jisung was just a classmate and that there was no correlation, but I was still skeptical so I got Soobin to transfer to your school and spy for me."

Jisung, Seungmin and Felix gasped at that. They all thought Soobin was just a nice guy that didn't like any drama. Jisung remembered the time he told Soobin that him and Minho were dating and the boy internally slapped himself. _God I'm so fucking stupid._

"He's the one who told me that you two were dating and he's the one who told Hwajoon about you two dating. He's the one who gave Hwajoon the idea to punch Jisung. This was all so he could see how Minho would react to to Jisung getting hurt and then he would report it back to me. That helped me determine if you really loved Jisung or not. After you punched Hwajoon, I was absolutely sure you loved him and that was when I started the plan."

He took another pause. "Making you break up with Jisung was never part of the plan, but it did help really nicely. After I learned Jisung's name, I soon found out that my adoptive mom and Jisung's mom were coworkers and that just played well with my plan and it helped me a lot. I convinced my mom to set up a dinner with Jisung's mom and that was the thing that helped me force you to break up with him. I knew that if you were forced to break up with Jisung then you would be a mess and wouldn't take care of yourself, which would result in you getting weak. Once I felt like a good amount of time passed, I started the final bit of my plan. I was so close to completing it, but I guess I underestimated you because I didn't expect you to get out of the my guards hold. I tried to kill Jisung by punching him, but you stopped me before I could do it."

Jisung inhaled sharply. Moonjin's plan was actually very well developed and thought through, but that's what scared Jisung the most. The fact that Moonjin was a few minutes away from completing his plan.

"I guess that's it. I failed and you killed my gang, the only people that I cared about. Do what you want with me, at this point I don't fucking care. Kill me, maybe I'll finally meet my parents after ten years." Moonjin said defeated.

This was the very first time Jisung had ever seen the male look so weak and vulnerable. No matter what, Moonjin always had a smirk or a blank face, he never showed any expression of weakness even when he was about to be punched or was threatened. Jisung almost felt bad for him again.

The gang looked at Minho for his input. They all expected him to pull out a gun and shoot the guy in the chair or something, but instead of doing that he grabbed Jisung's hand and turned to the door.

"One of you guys can do it." Minho said before he walked out the door, taking his boyfriend with him. He took everyone by surprise, even Jisung. He finally had the chance to kill the guy that's been haunting him for the last ten years and he was just gonna let someone else do the deed instead?

As the couple walked to the elevator, Jisung heard the door open and close again and soon after, two gun shots echoed through the floor making Jisung flinch a little. He leaned closer to Minho and the boy wrapped an arm around Jisung's waist to pull him closer.

...

The drive back to the gang's house was quiet as the two of them were in their thoughts. Jisung wanted to ask why he didn't kill Moonjin, but he thought that he would let Minho process everything first.

When they arrived to the house, they hung out with the other eight people. No one talked about what had just happened, it was like they all simultaneously agreed to forget about it for now and just enjoy each other's presence and to talk about it later. Their laughters filled the house for the next few hours before they all decided it was time to go to bed.

Jisung sat in Minho's bed waiting for the male to sit with him. After the gang member was done with whatever he was doing, he sat in front of his boyfriend. They sat in silence until Jisung spoke up, "How come you let someone else do the job?" He asked quietly.

Minho stayed silent. He honestly didn't fully understand why he made another person do it instead of himself. "I just felt like I couldn't do it."

Jisung turned to his boyfriend and gave a confused face, waiting for him to explain further.

"When he told us that it was my dad who killed his parents, it just didn't feel right for me to kill him. I feel like I would be taking after my dad." He explained looking down.

The shorter male frowned. He gently placed both his hands on Minho's cheeks, making Minho meet his eyes. "Don't _ever_ compare yourself to your father. Your dad took the lives of innocent people. That's way different from what you would've done. Moonjin was far from innocent, he did unspeakable things and he deserved what happened to him, whether if you would've done it or not." Jisung found this situation to be kind of ironic since his boyfriend was in a gang.

"He only became that way because of my dad."

"Exactly. It was your _dad's_fault**_. _**Not your own fault. There was absolutely no way for you to stop him or to change the past because you had no clue what was happening. You were locked up in the basement and Moonjin's always had a twisted mind too. He's the one who decided to take his traumatic experience to hurt an innocent person who had nothing to do with it but be related to the person who caused it. You had no control over Moonjin's and your dad's actions. I don't want you to waste your life feeling guilty for something you shouldn't feel guilty about. You were nothing but a victim to Moonjin's little schemes and you didn't deserve any of it." Jisung said.

Minho stayed quiet. He knew Jisung was right but why did he feel like he was at fault here?

Jisung leaned up and kissed his boyfriend, pulling away after a few seconds. "Stop it. You have no right to feel at fault. _None_ of it was your fault."

Minho reattached their lips, catching the other male by surprise. "Thanks Ji." Minho said once he pulled away.

Jisung smiled, "Of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, chapter zero was through moonjin's pov. what surprised you??
> 
> i feel like a lot of you guys will be irritated that minho wasn't the one who killed moonjin but oh well 
> 
> in the next chapter:  
\- it's the last chapter :(
> 
> what do you guys wanna see in the last chapter?


	45. f o r t y f o u r .

It's been a year since the whole Moonjin incident and thankfully, nothing has happened to anyone in the gang or their boyfriends.

A few days after hearing the truth from Moonjin, Jisung and Minho went back down the the basement of the Stray Kids' warehouse to talk to the members of WPQO who were locked away. There were only eleven members of that gang. The couple explained to them the truth behind Moonjin and Jaewoo. Of course at first, none of them believed what the pair were saying, but after showing them the surveillance footage from the room Moonjin was locked in, of the day he explained everything, the members of WPQO believed them.

They were very stunned at first, they couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that they were friends and supported someone who could do something so horrible. And the fact that they were being lied to the whole time from someone who they trusted. It was like their whole perspective and mood changed, they were absolutely livid at Moonjin and Jaewoo and were glad that they were both dead.

Immediately, they began to apologize to Minho and Jisung, feeling guilty for trying to hurt them when they were innocent. Of course Jisung waved it off and forgave them since it really wasn't their fault, they were being manipulated. Minho, on the other hand, was more harder to convince of their sincerity, but he came around eventually. Soon, the rest of Stray Kids also forgave them and finally let them free from the basement a month later.

The most surprising thing was that Yeonjun, Soobin and the rest of eleven, asked Chan to join Stray Kids. At first Chan was skeptical and allowed them to join only if they were under the supervision at all times. Then after Chan realized that they were no threat, he let them fully join the gang. They actually became somewhat close with the gang, it was kind of weird to think about.

-

Jisung sat on the couch in the basement of the gang's house with Jeongin sitting on his right. Jeongin was leaning onto Yedam who sat on the other side of the younger. Felix, Seungmin, Chan and Minho were playing with the switch and were currently in a very heated Mario Kart race.

"Minho I swear to fucking god, if you throw another red shell at me I'm going to pound your face." Seungmin growled.

Minho laughed as he zoomed past Seungmin, "I would love to see you try."

"Chan hyung you suck ass at Mario Kart." Felix laughed as he bumped Chan's character off the map.

"Felix bump me off the map one more time and we'll see who's laughing." Chan grumbled.

"Who's fucking banana did I just hit." Minho seethed.

"That was mine." Seungmin laughed. "Oh how the tables have turned."

In the end, Felix won first place with Minho, Seungmin and Chan following after.

The three that didn't win, threw their remotes in frustration.

"I was so close to beating you!" Minho said to Felix before turning to Seungmin, "But you had to hit me with that fucking shell last second!"

"Good I'm glad you didn't get first place!" Seungmin said back.

"All I hear are excuses." Felix yawned.

Jisung, Changbin, and Hyunjin started laughing at their boyfriends. "You guys are actual five year olds." Hyunjin snorted which earned himself a whack from Seungmin.

"It's okay babe, maybe next time you'll get first place." Jisung laughed as Minho sent a glare towards his boyfriend.

Changbin hugged his seated boyfriend from behind making Felix turn his head to him. Changbin quickly kissed his lips, "Aw my little champion." He said making Felix smile.

"Yeah Chan there's no hope for you, it's sad how bad you are at Mario Kart." Woojin said making everyone laugh as Chan gave a look of betrayal at his boyfriend.

"How are we related? No one in this family should be this bad at something as simple as Mario Kart." Yedam said.

Chan glared at his brother before he pounced him, tackling him. Jisung and Jeongin quickly got up from the couch and left, not wanting to be involved in this sibling rivalry.

"Jeongin help me!" Yedam yelled out.

"The hell do you want me to do? You brought this on yourself babe." Jeongin scoffed making everyone start laughing.

Chan put Yedam into a headlock and started rubbing his knuckle on the top of his head. Yedam slapped his older brother's leg in hopes to set himself free. Finally after a few seconds Chan let the poor boy go. Yedam gasped for a big breath of air.

After he got some air, he sent a glare at his boyfriend, making the latter laugh. Jeongin walked over to Yedam and kissed him. "I'm sorry for not saving you, you big baby." He said as Yedam was smiling from the kiss.

"I will redeem my name. Who's up for another round?" Chan said.

"I'm only gonna play just so I can beat your ass." Yedam said as he grabbed a controller.

"I'll play." Hyunjin said while grabbing a controller.

"Don't throw a fit when I win." Changbin grabbed the last controller and they started the game.

"Your confidence amuses me hyung. Too bad you're not gonna win." Yedam said making Changbin scoff.

Minho grabbed Jisung and pulled him onto the couch with him, making the shorter male yelp in surprise. "You're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days." He pouted.

"You already give me a heart attack from all the pounding you make my heart do." Minho said making Jisung push his face away from him while his face turned red.

"I don't understand how your cringy comments make me blush and want to throw up at the same time." Jisung thought out loud.

"I'm gonna take ignore the last part and take that as a compliment." Minho said making the other male roll his eyes playfully.

"YEAH! WHOO!" Hyunjin yelled out in excitement as he won first place. The other three threw their remote like the previous group had done.

Hyunjin ran over to Seungmin and gave him a quick kiss, "I got first place!" He said excitedly.

Seungmin laughed at his adorable boyfriend, "Who's the real five year old now?"

Chan pouted as he placed last again and Woojin chuckled. He leaned and kissed his boyfriend's pout. "Don't be sad babe, you'll get there eventually." He said making Chan smile.

"I think your ego got in the way and made you do bad." Felix said to Changbin who only sent a glare at him. The taller male chuckled and walked over to his sulky boyfriend, wrapping his arms around him. "It's okay at least you did better than Chan hyung." Felix said.

"I heard that Felix." Chan said making everyone laugh.

"You honestly did better than I thought you would." Jeongin said to his boyfriend who placed second place.

Yedam looked at boyfriend in betrayal, making Jeongin laugh as he hugged his boyfriend who didn't hug him back. "I'm just playing babe. I knew that you would do amazing." He said making Yedam chuckle and hug back.

"How come you don't play?" Minho asked his boyfriend.

Jisung looked up at his boyfriend, "Hm? Oh it's because I'm so good at Mario Kart that I don't want them complaining about how unfair it is when I play."

Minho snorted at his boyfriend's response. "You might be #1 in academics and in my heart, but that doesn't mean you're #1 in games."

Jisung scoffed, "Oh just you wait. I'm gonna play you one on one and we'll see who's laughing at the end."

"Okay let's play right now." Minho said getting up to grab a controller.

Jisung immediately shook his head and pushed his boyfriend back onto the couch. "No, I'm just kidding! I suck, I might actually be even worse than Chan hyung." He said the last sentence in a hushed voice making Minho laugh at his boyfriend's cuteness.

He leaned down and connected his lips with Jisung's, smiling into it which made the other male smile.

Jisung pulled away with pink cheeks. Minho looked at him with amusement from the fact that even after dating for over a year, Jisung still blushed after kissing, just like he did when they had their first kiss.

"I love you." Minho said.

"I love you too." Jisung smiled.

**Finished**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh i can't believe this story is finished !!
> 
> a lot of you guys wanted fluff and for wpqo to be forgiven so that's what that was at the beginning lol.
> 
> i'm gonna miss writing and updating this story but i'm satisfied with how it turned out. (probs gonna go back and fix any spelling or grammatical errors)
> 
> i'm sorry for the short and lame last chapter (i might write an epilogue/bonus chapter but if i do then it'll be posted whenever i finish writing it which probs won't be soon)
> 
> fun fact: when i posted the first chapter, i already had half the story pre written which is how i was able to update so consistently.
> 
> ik a lot of you are curious as to what i'm gonna do next.   
1\. no i am not gonna write a sequel bc i have no idea what it would be about lol  
2\. i might write another story but if i do then it won't be as well planned out as this story bc no cap, the storyline of this fic took me about a year to plan. it took me a year bc i'm not creative and i forgot about it for a few months etc but also bc i planned out every single detail and what would happen in each chapter before i actually started writing the chapters.  
3\. if i do write another story then the chapters won't be as long as the chapters in this story. and it won't be posted until i have some chapters already prewritten :)
> 
> if you still have any more questions about the story or about what i'm gonna do next or anything then pls comment them! i'll answer them :)
> 
> thank you guys for reading this story all the way to the end! thank you for making me laugh with all your comments and your sweet messages that really encouraged me to finish this story ✨✨


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